North Adams, MA --- MCLA freshman Khalil Paul (Troy, NY) tallied a contest-high 26 points as he helped lead the Trailblazers to a 72-58 victory over Worcester State in MASCAC men's basketball action this afternoon.
MCLA (4-9, 1-1 MASCAC) was also paced by senior Todd Hunt (Cambridge, NY) and sophomore Adam Conquest (Gardner, MA) who both tallied nine points each for the hosts. Hunt pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in the victory.
Paul did his damage off a nine-for-11 effort from the floor with four made three-pointers and a perfect four-for-four line from the charity stripe.
Worcester State (4-10, 0-1 MASCAC) was paced by sophomore Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) who had a squad-best 15 points as classmate Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) added 12 points and eight boards.
Senior Charles Gunter (Boston, MA/New Misson) stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, eight caroms, five helpers and a pair of swipes for WSU.
The Lancers opened the contest with a 11-0 run before MCLA came right back and outscored the visitors 10-1, sparked by trey's by Hunt and Paul for the 12-10 score and 12:39 on the clock in the opening stanza.
The Blue and Gold maintained their distance as the squads went basket for basket over the next six minutes.
With the Lancers holding the 24-18 margin at the 6:11 mark, the Trailblazers took control by ending the period with a 15-3 surge for the 33-27 edge at the intermission. Paul canned three consecutive trifectas and had 13 points for MCLA in the rally.
Following a three-point play by junior Paul Maurice (Mattapan, MA) which helped the Trailblazers go up into double-digits four minutes into the second period (41-31) as the hosts led by as many as 20 points and 8:50 remaining in regulation.
As the hosts led 61-43 at the 5:43 mark, at the DiBernardo notched nine points in a late 12-4 skein to help cut the deficit down to nine points (65-56) and 1:17 left to play, but that was as close as the Lancers got the rest of the way.
MCLA ended the game with a 7-2 run to secure the victory.
The Trailblazers dropped in half of their shots for the game (51 percent – 26-for-51) and over 39 percent from three point land (7-for-18).
WSU nearly matched the effort on the other side of the floor, finishing with a 43 percent clip overall (23-for-54), but only hit one of their 13 bids at long distance. The Lancers also missed 10 free throws for the game (52 percent – 11-for-21).
Rebounds were even (29-29) while the visitors controlled buckets in the paint (38-24) and points off of turnovers (13-12).
Both squads return to MASCAC play next week.
The Lancers will play their first game of the new year at home starting with Salem State at Assumption's Laska Gym in a 8 PM meeting. MCLA heads to Fitchburg State for a 7:30 tip-off.
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