After winning their quarterfinal contests on Tuesday, third seed Westfield State and fifth seed Fitchburg State advance to the semifinals of the 2023 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday.

#3 Westfield State 81, #6 MCLA 60     Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. –  Westfield State grad student forward Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn.) scored a career high 23 points to lead #3 Westfield State to an 81-60 win over #6 MCLA in the opening round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament at the Woodward Center on Tuesday evening.

Westfield improves to 11-15 overall on the season, while MCLA's season comes to an end at 7-17.

With the win, Westfield State advances to play at #2-seed Bridgewater State in the tournament semifinals on Thursday, February 23, with a 5:30 p.m. tip off at the Tinsley Center.

Leading 40-29 at the half, Westfield used a fast start to help push the game out of reach.

Westfield opened the second half with a 12-4 spurt, fueled by a baseline dunk from Brown and capped by a Brendan Keaveny (Quincy, Mass.) 3-pointer to make it 52-33.

An Amon Moore (Davenport, Fla.) jumper for MCLA and another from Kumar Lewis (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) brief halted the Owls' momentum, but Westfield gradually extended the lead to 22 points at 65-43 on a Gerry McManus (Hudson, Mass.) free throw with 9:25 left.

The Owl lead got to as many as 27 points before the two teams both went deep in their benches for the final five minutes.

Brown finished with 10 boards and shot 11-18 from the floor.  JT Thompson added 24 points (4-9 on three pointers), seven rebounds and four assists, for the Owls, and Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.) contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.  DaeJon Pendleton (Haverhill, Mass.) handed out seven assists.   Westfield shot 51 percent from the floor for the game, and held the Blazers to 34.4%.

MCLA was led by 15 points from grad student guard Noah Yearsley (Averill Park, N.Y.) who left late in the game due to an apparent injury.   Korey Greenland (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) added 11 poins and JoJo Garcia (Henderson, Nev.) and Jake Bluestein (San Diego, Calif.) each had 6 for the Blazers.

Westfield used a 15-0 run midway through the first half to extend it's lead to 26-14 and force the Trailblazers second time out of the game.   Thompson started the run with a three-pointer and drilled another three to cap the run with 8:37 to play.

The lead hovered there for rest of the half.  MCLA's Garcia drained a long three pointer in the closing minute, but Westfield answered with a floater at the buzzer from McManus to give the Owls a 40-29 lead at the half.  Thompson led Westfield with 15 in the half, with Brown adding 13.  Westfield shot 54.8 percent  (17-31) from the floor in the half.

 MCLA was led by nine from Yearsley and eight from Greenland in the first half.    The Blazers shot well from three point range, connecting on seven of 19 (36.8 percent) from behind the arc.

Westfield held a "white out" for the game, in honor of Morgan's Message, a non-profit that advocates for student athlete mental health, and drew a crowd of 456 for the game.

#5 Fitchburg State 63, #4 Salem State 61     Box Score

Salem, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University Men's Basketball team got a buzzer beater from senior Tajahn Joyner (Amherst, Mass.) as the Falcons defeated the Vikings of Salem State, 63-61 this evening in quarterfinal round action of the 2022-23 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Basketball Post-Season Tournament from the Twohig Gymnasium.

Score: Fitchburg State 63, Salem State 61

Fitchburg State (10-15, 4-8 MASCAC), Salem State (8-18, 5-7 MASCAC)

How It Happened

1st half

Salem State raced out to an early 6-1 advantage as senior Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) notched a jumper before Fitchburg State went on an 11-0 run with senior Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.), Joyner, sophomore Matthew Tanis (Hialeah, Fla.) and junior Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.) netting buckets.

The Falcons upped the lead to 16-8 as Q. Taylor registered a layup, but the Vikings responded with a 9-0 stretch, capped by a three-pointer from sophomore Juvens Louis (Everett, Mass.) to take an 18-16 edge.

The two teams traded buckets with roughly five minutes remaining in the half to knot the contest at 22-22 before the Green and Gold grabbed a 31-23 lead going into the break with senior Dayne Allen (Revere, Mass.) and freshman Tyrone Manderson (Saugus, Mass.) collecting layups.

2nd Half

Following the intermission, Salem State trimmed the deficit to 31-27 as senior Chris MacDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) buried a three-ball before Fitchburg State answered with a bucket by senior Mikal Garcia (Fresno, Tex.) (33-29).

The Vikings continued to rally though, taking a 36-35 edge on a Jarret Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) free throw, but the Falcons regained the lead (37-36) when Tanis converted a pair from the charity stripe. The teams would trade buckets as Tanis knocked down a three-pointer for the Green and Gold, while Castillo connected on a layup for the host to knot the score at 42-42.

Fitchburg State grabbed a 46-45 advantage as Allen hit a layup, but Salem State took the lead back on baskets from senior Conner Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) and Louis for the 55-50 margin. The Falcons rallied back to retie the contest at 61-61 before Joyner hit a running jumper at the buzzer to secure the 63-61 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Falcons were paced by Joyner with a game-leading 19 points, four rebounds, one assist and four steals
• Allen added a double-double of 14 points and 20 caroms as well as one assist, one steal and one block    
• For the Vikings, J. Byrne registered a team-best 17 points, 12 boards, two assists and one steal
• Castillo chipped in with 12 points, four assists and two steals
• 110nd meeting between the Falcons and Vikings on the hardwood with Fitchburg State 19-91 all-time when taking on Salem State
• Fitchburg State shot 22-for-77 (28.6%) from the field and (2-of-19) 10.5% from three point range
• Salem State finished 22-of-63 (34.9%) overall and (3-for-10) 30.0% for beyond the arc
• The Falcons finished with a 55-44 edge on the glass

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Thursday as they travel to the top seeded Lancers of Worcester State in semifinal round action of the 2022-23 MASCAC Men's Basketball Post-Season Tournament, starting at 6:00 PM.

Release courtesy of Westfield State and Fitchburg State Sports Information