MCLA and Westfield State are headed to the semifinal round of the 2024 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament after defeating their quarterfinal opponents in close contests on Tuesday.

#4 MCLA 65, #5 Salem State 62   Box Score

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team opened their post-season run this evening in the MASCAC quarterfinals at the Amsler Campus Center Auditorium against the Salem State Vikings. Salem State's Michael Makiej finished with a game-high 27 points and 15 rebounds, while a trio of Trailblazers scored in double-digits to power MCLA into the semifinal round on Thursday.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2024
• Score: Salem State 62, MCLA 65
• Records: Salem State Vikings 12-13 (MASCAC 5-7) | MCLA Trailblazers 14-11 (MASCAC 7-5)

HIGHLIGHTS

• The teams traded blows early in the game, with the visiting Vikings twice getting the lead out to four points, the final time being 12-8 with 11:40 on the first half clock.
• MCLA responded with an 11-0 run capped by a Craig Williams three with 9:02 to play in the half.
• The Trailblazers held the lead for the remainder of the half, with Salem State getting to within a point at 26-25 when Wil Martinez converted a fast break layup off a defensive rebound from Michael Makiej. The teams then traded layups before another three from Williams finished the scoring in the half. Sending the teams into the locker room with MCLA up 31-27.
• The nip-and-tuck nature of the game continued into the second half. A dunk by the Trailblazers' Quentin Gittens to open the half, but it seemed that for every basket by the home team, the visitors would respond with one of their own. The pattern continued with the teams finding the game tied at 60 with 2:45 left in regulation. And again at 62 with 1:02 to go after Gittens and Salem's Liam Byrne exchanged layups.
• The game-winning shot came on a 20-foot jump shot by MCLA's Jaxen Potter with 27 seconds remaining.
• After a solid defensive stand by the Trailblazers, Gittens forced a turnover by Makiej and forced the Vikings to foul. Gittens hit the first of two free throws, and then one final opportunity for the visitors resulted in the game ending without a shot.
• Gittens finished with a team-high 21 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists. The game was his 13th double-double of the season.
• Williams scored 18 points on the back of a 4-9 showing from beyond the arc. He also gathered eight boards and dished out two assists.
• Potter just missed a double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds.
• A pair of Vikings finished with double-doubles. Makiej had a game-high 27 points and 15 rebounds, while Byrne had 13 points, fueled by a 7-9 showing at the charity stripe, and 14 boards.

UP NEXT:

On Thursday, MCLA will be back in action when they continue their MASCAC playoff run on the road against Worcester State at the WSU Wellness Center. The teams will take the floor for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

#3 Westfield State 77, #6 Fitchburg State 71     Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Westfield State senior forward Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass.)  scored 21 points and snagged 18 rebounds and sophomore Dom Strother (Edinburg, Va.) added 16 points and 14 boards as #3 Westfield State survived a scrappy effort from #6-seed Fitchburg State, 77-71 in the first round of the 2024 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night.

Westfield improves to 19-7 on the season and advances to play #2 seed Bridgewater State on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.

Fitchburg's season comes to a close with a 3-23 overall record.

Westfield led 40-33 at the half, and by as many as 10 midway through the second half, but could never shake the Falcons.   Westfield led 74-71 with less than 30 seconds to play in regulation, when Fitchburg's Frederick Siayor (Worcester, Mass.)  got a good look at a three point shot that wouldn't go down, and the Owls got the long rebound and made 3 of 4 free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Westfield parlayed its size advantage all night, with the 6-6 Hamilton and the 6-10 Strother both contributing to a 57-36 advantage on the boards.    The Falcons largely hemmed in Hamilton in the first half, but the double and triple teams led to easy buckets for Strother, who led Westfield with 11 points in the first half.    Hamilton did his damage in the second half, as the Owls consistently pounded the ball inside, and he responded with 17 of his points in the second half.

Kuany Teng (Manchester, N.H.) added 13 points, as he added several well-timed three pointers while shooting 4-9 from long range.   Point guard Angel Price-Espada  (Cambridge, Mass.) handed out six assists and scored nine points for the Owls.

Fitchburg was led by 20 points from Siayor, while Donald Brown Jr. (Baltimore, Md.) added 14.   Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds and Alex Moemeka (West Hartford, Conn.) netted 12 points.

For Westfield, Hamilton now has 1,290 career points, moving into 11^th place on Westfield's all time scoring list, and ran his career rebound total to 1,148, just 46 behind Russell Thompson's record of 1,194.   Hamilton had his eighth consecutive double double, and his 10^th straight game of 13 or more rebounds.

Releases courtesy of MCLA and Westfield State Sports Information