North Adams, MA --- The visiting Worcester State Lancers snapped MCLA's ten-game winning streak while also handing the Trailblazers their first MASCAC loss of the season in a 72-68 victory. The Lancers are now 4-15 overall (2-4 MASCAC) while MCLA falls to 14-4 overall (5-1 MASCAC). Senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) scored a game high 24 points for the Lancers.
A hard fought game through the first twenty minutes saw Worcester hold a slim one point lead at halftime (29-28). The Trailblazers came out fast in the second half though, using an 11-0 run to start the half to take their largest lead of the night at 39-29.
The advantate would slowly deteriorate for the hosts as Worcester cut the margin to 46-42 on a three pointer from Douillette with 13:18 to play. MCLA would quickly push the lead back to eight on a junior Jamal Brown (Springfield, MA) jumper followed by fourth-year Benny Cuprill's (Albany, NY) only bucket of the game making it 50-42.
Worcester once again fought back, this time using an 11-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the second half at 53-50 with under eight minutes to play.
That set the stage for a frantic finish down the stretch in which the game would be tied on six different occassions and neither side holding more than three point lead. After a pair of Lancer free throws from first-year Mike Gittens (Uncasville, CT) knotted the game up at 67 apiece with 2:02 to play, each team would have opportunities to grab the lead.
It was not until Worcester State junior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) intercepted a Brown pass, who then fouled Stephenson with 35 seconds left as WSU would take the lead for good. He calmly sank both free throws giving the Lancers a 69-67 edge.
MCLA senior Jon Greenberg (Antwerp, Belgium) was fouled on the ensuing possession but only converted the front end cutting the margin to 69-68. Forced to foul, MCLA would send Worcester's State's Ryan Testagrossa (Athol, MA) to the line who would convert one of two pushing the margin back to two. MCLA had a good look as junior Chris Harris' (Dorchester, MA) jumper with ten seconds left rimmed out.
Worcester's Stephenson would go back to the line and convert a pair of free throws with five seconds left to ice the game.
Free throw shooting was one of the key statistics of the evening as Worcester went 31-39 from the stripe, while MCLA was 14-19. The Blue and Gold held edges in points off turnovers (22-14) and second-chance points (14-13).
Aside from Douillette's big night, Gittens collected 16 points off the bench, including a perfect 10-10 from the line. Third-year Clayton Timas (New Bedford, MA) and sophomore Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA) each added 10 rebounds for the Lancers. The hosts led in both total rebounds (41-28) and offensive caroms (16-11).
For the Trailblazers, they were led by Greenberg's 16 points and 13 rebounds. He went 12-14 from the line in defeat. Freshman Ramon Viches (Malden, MA) added 13 points, while senior Brendan Kordana (Adams, MA) added 10 and first-year Bilal Shabazz (Schenectady, NY) added six assists for MCLA.
Box squads will continue MASCAC play on Tuesday evening. Worcester State hosts Westfield State at 8 PM while the Trailblazers go on the road to meet Salem in a key conference meeting on Tuesday.
Release Courtesy of MCLA Sports Information