NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The MCLA men's basketball team rallied from a double digit second half deficit and then held off the visiting Bridgewater State Bears earning a hard-fought 67-64 MASCAC win. The game marked the regular season finale for both teams heading into next week's MASCAC Tournament.
MCLA ends the regular season with a mark of 13-12 overall and 9-3 in MASCAC play. The Trailblazers will be the #2 seed and earn a first round bye in the tournament. BSU finishes the regular season with a record of 11-13 overall and 5-7 in conference play. The Bears will be the fourth seed and will host fifth-seeded Fitchburg State on Tuesday night at seven.
After the Bears held a slim four point lead at the break, MCLA promptly tied the game at 29 out of the locker room. The Bears would then go on a 12-0 run to snag their largest lead of the night at 41 29. Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) and Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) each spurred the run with five points each. MCLA would battle back though.
With the score now at 43-34 in favor of BSU, MCLA would go on a game changing 17-4 spurt to grab a 51-47 lead with 8:08 remaining. Kenny Suggs and Paul Maurice collected 11 points in the spurt to give MCLA their first lead since early in the opening half. BSU would stay close though, eventually pulling to within a point at 61-60 with under two minutes to play.
Four straight points from Bilal Shabazz put MCLA up 65-60 with just 30 ticks left in the game. A Lofton tip-in would pull the Bears within two, but Shabazz once again drained a pair of free throws to stretch the lead back out to a five point cushion. BSU added a lay-in in the final seconds to account for the final score.
In the opening half, MCLA led early on at 6-4 before the Bears asserted themselves. Bridgewater would score the next seven points to grab an early 11-6 advantage. The Trailblazers would battle back and eventually even things up at 16 on a pair of John Jones free throws with 8:50 left until halftime. Bridgewater would once again respond, this time using a 7-0 run to grab their largest first half lead at 23-16 after Yard's drive to the hoop. MCLA would close to three at 25-22 before the score settled on 29-25 in favor of the Bears at the break.
The lead could have been greater for the Bears, however poor free throw shooting (1-7) kept MCLA close. The Trailblazers made 10-16 from the line in the opening 20 minutes. Yard finished with 11 first half points for the Bears to lead all scorers.
The Bears were led by Yard's game high 24 points. He was 10-19 from the floor and also chipped in with 5 assists. Lofton was tough to handle in the post as he notched a double-double of 21 points and 11 boards. Bridgewater was hurt from the free throw line as they connected on just 8 of 19 attempts in the game.
For MCLA, Shabazz finished with a team high 17 points, including a 9-11 showing at the charity stripe. He added 4 assists. Maurice chipped in with 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Leading scorer John Jones was held to just 6 points, but did haul in 11 rebounds.
MCLA wasn't great from the line either, as they finished 18-29 at the free throw line.
Prior to the contest, MCLA honored their three seniors playing their final home game: Richard Johnson, Shabazz, and Cross.