Big Second Half propels MCLA past NEC
Henniker, NH- After trailing by 14 points at halftime, the MCLA Men's Basketball team caught fire in the second half in defeating New England College 83-73. The win was the Trailblazers second straight victory and evens their record at 6-6 on the season. New England College falls to 5-6 on the season.
MCLA was led by junior center Jon Greenberg (Antwerp, Belgium) who recorded his ninth double double of the season by collecting 21 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Chris Harris (Dorchester, MA) also tallied 21 points, 19 of which came after halftime. Senior guard Mike Perrault had a strong second half off the bench for MCLA knocking down four three pointers en route to his 16 points.
The Trailblazers were held to twenty first half points and trailed 34-20 at the break. MCLA fell behind by as many as 17 on two different occasions in the opening stanza shooting just 24%.
MCLA responded by opening the second half on a 20-6 run tying the game at 40 with just over 14 minutes to play. Perrault gave MCLA its first lead of the game as he knocked in a three pointer with 12:51 to play. The Pilgrims would respond and tie the game at 48 before another trey by Perrault gave the Trailblazers the lead to keep.
MCLA shot 55% from the field in the second half as they outscored NEC 63-39.
Junior point Guard Benny Cuprill dished out a season high five assists for MCLA, while junior guard Brenden Kordana collected 15 points in the win.
MCLA will begin conference play on Saturday when they host MASCAC rival Worcester State College at 5pm.