Men’s Basketball Falls at Worcester State in Regular Season Finale, 74-69
WORCESTER, Mass.— The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Men's Basketball team fell 74-69 at Worcester State this afternoon in both teams' regular season finale. With the loss, MCLA falls to 6-18 (4-8 MASCAC) while the Lancers improve to 12-13 (9-3 MASCAC).
The Trailblazers started strong hitting seven of their first eleven shots grabbing an 18-8 lead after a Joshua Bissaillon layup which forced a Worcester State timeout at the 11:49 mark. Unfortunately for MCLA, they would go 3-10 from the field over the next six minutes and allow the Lancers to close the gap to 26-25 following a Sam Davies bucket with 5:33 remaining in the half.
The visitors steadied themselves to close the half outscoring Worcester 9-5 taking a 35-30 advantage into the locker room.
MCLA opened the second half on a 9-2 run capped off by a Jackson Brown three-pointer which made it 44-32 at the 17:40 mark, giving the Trailblazers their largest lead of the day. The hosts proved resilient however turning up the defensive pressure which led to a 19-6 run giving the Lancers a 51-50 lead with 12:09 left to play.
Following a Quentin Gittens layup which tied the game at 56-56 with just under ten minutes to play, Worcester surged ahead over the next four minutes with a 10-0 run which despite a late push, the Trailblazers could not overcome as they eventually fell to the Lancers, 74-69.
Brandon Goris and Sam Davies each had a game-high 22 points to lead Worcester State. Craig Williams led MCLA with 17 points with JoJo Garcia scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Gittens registered a 12-point 10-rebound double-double while Brown chipped in 10 points, including the 1,000th of his career.
The Trailblazers will get another shot at the two-time defending league champs next Tuesday at 6pm as #6 seed MCLA will again travel to #3 seed Worcester State to take on the Lancers in the opening round of the MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament.
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