After winning their quarterfinal contests on Tuesday evening, MCLA and Salem are advancing to the semifinal round of the MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday.

No. 3 MCLA 80, No. 6 Fitchburg State 78      Box Score

North Adams, MA- MCLA freshman center Chris Becker (Lake George, NY) scored with two seconds remaining to lift the #2 seed Trailblazers to a hard fought 80-78 win over the sixth seeded Fitchburg State in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference (MASCAC) men's basketball tournament this evening.  The Trailblazers (15-10) advance to the semifinal round where they will travel to the second seeded Worcester State Lancers on Thursday night at 6pm.

Fitchburg ends their season at 9-17.

MCLA trailed 40-38 at the half and the Falcons quickly jumped out to their largest lead of the night early in the second half at 56-42 before the host chipped away.  The Trailblazers cut it to 61-56 on a Ki-Shawn Monroe layup, still with 10:24 left to play. 

The Trailblazers finally took their first lead of the second half on Noah Yearsley's step back three to push ahead 74-72 with just over three to play.  Fitchburg's Nicholas Tracy converted to tie things up on the next possession, then after a defensive stop, Tracy again went to the hole for two to put the Falcons ahead 76-75. 

A pair of Yearsley FT's briefly gave MCLA the lead and then Tracy struck again to make it 78-77 with just over a minute to play.  Yearsley was fouled on MCLA's next possession and sank the second after missing the first to tie things up at 78-78 setting up a frantic final few possessions.

Fitchburg had a chance to take the lead but Tracy's jumper fell short and MCLA rebounded.  After a pair of timeouts, the Trailblazers had a chance to take a final shot.  Monroe dribbled around the perimeter before penetrating on the left side of the paint.  He found Becker cutting to the hoop on the right block and the freshman got the friendly roll to give MCLA the lead at 80-78 with just two seconds remaining. 

The Falcons inbounded to midcourt and Tracy got off a desperation three, but it was off the mark to give MCLA the win.

Tracy dominated the first half scoring 19 of his game high 26 points to lead all scorers.  The senior went 10-21 from the floor and snagged 8 rebounds in defeat.  Jordan Jones was a monster all night long going off for 25 points and 8 boards of his own.  Xavier Betancourt tallied 10 points for the Falcons.

MCLA was led by Yearsley's 23 point night.  He was 6-17 shooting, but 5-10 from three.  Bright Afful had his best game of the season collecting a double double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.  His thunderous dunk in the second half brought significant energy to the Trailblazers.  Becker ended with 13 points while Hayden Bird came off the bench to score 12.

The difference in the contest was three point shooting.  MCLA converted on 11-21 attempts from beyond the arc compared to just 4-11 for the Falcons.  MCLA ended the night shooting 46% while the Falcons shot 51%.

No. 5 Salem State 89, No. 4 Bridgewater State 78         Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior forward Hakeem Animashaun (Dedham, Mass.) scored a game-high 33 points to lead fifth-seeded Salem State University to an 89-78 victory over #4 Bridgewater State University in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

With the win, Salem State advances to the MASCAC Tournament semifinal round. The Vikings (6-20) will travel to Westfield State University on Thursday night to take on the top-seeded Owls at 7:30. Bridgewater State ends the season with an overall record of 10-15.

Animashaun connected on 12 of 19 field goals attempts and went 9-for-13 at the free throw line. He also pulled down 11 rebounds to record his MASCAC-leading 21st double-double of the season.

Sophomore guard Patrick Bugler (Marblehead, Mass.) added 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes off the bench for the Vikings, while freshman guard Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) notched 13 points, three rebounds and four assists, and junior forward Mass Joof (Revere, Mass.) posted a double-double with ten points and a game-best 13 boards (four offensive).

Senior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) led Bridgewater State with 30 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior forward Dimitri St. Louis (Brockton, Mass.) checked in with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals for the Bears, while sophomore guard Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.) added 12 points, three boards and five assists.

Salem led 46-39 at the break as Animashaun paced the Vikings with 15 points in the opening stanza. Carney scored 21 points in the first half to keep the Bears in contention as he connected on 8 of 10 field goals including 4-for-6 from three-point range. The Vikings shot 58% (19-33) from the floor over the first 20 minutes and outrebounds the Bears 20-11 with a 10-4 edge on the offensive glass. Bridgewater shot 54% (15-28) in the first half with a 6-for-17 (35%) clip from behind the arc.

The Bears chipped away at the deficit and tied it at 57-57 after Carney was fouled attempting a three-pointer and made all three free throws. Later in the period, Pettway drained a trifecta to give the hosts a 64-63 lead with 11:07 remaining. Bridgewater made three straight stops on defense but went 0-for-4 from the line at the other end of the floor as the score remained 64-63.

Animashuan dropped in a layup to put the Vikings back in front, and BSU senior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, Mass.) answered with 1 of 2 free throws to knot the score at 65-65 with 8:46 showing on the scoreboard. Salem then reeled off eight straight points highlighted by a Bugler three-pointer and a Animashaun bucket and free throw to pull ahead 73-65. Bridgewater got as close as three points (74-71) following a layup by sophomore guard David Laine (Bourne, Mass.) with 4:27 remaining. After a stop, the Bears had a chance to tie, but a three-pointer was off the mark.

Animashaun converted another three-point play to extend the Viking lead to 77-71. St. Louis hit on two free throws to make it a four-point game, but Castillo dropped in a layup, was fouled and knocked down the free throw to give Salem the 80-73 advantage with 2:43 left to play. A pair of Carney free throws was answered by an Animashaun layup with 2:22 remaining. After Bridgewater was unable to convert a layup, the Vikings went 5-for-6 at the free throw line in a span of 32 seconds to take an 87-75 lead and put the game out of reach.

Salem shot 53% (34-64) for the game and held a 44-28 rebounding advantage with a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Vikings, who went 16-for-25 (64%) from the free throw line, outscored the Bears 54-28 in the paint. The Salem bench also outscored the BSU reserves, 25-4.

The Bears connected on 43% (24-56) of their field goal attempts, but went 9-for-28 (32%) from the floor and 3-for-13 (23%) from behind the arc in the second half. After attempting just four free throws in the opening stanza, Bridgewater was 18-for-24 (75%) at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes. 

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State and MCLA Sports Information