North Adams, MA --- MCLA junior John Jones (Worcester, MA/South) connected on 8-of-16 shooting and finished with a game-best 21 points to help lead the Trailblazers to a 78-75 victory over Worcester State in MASCAC men's basketball action this evening.
For first-place MCLA (11-10, 7-1 MASCAC), senior Bilal Shabazz (Schenectady, NY) finished with 10 points, seven boards and four assists as freshman Paul Maurice (Boston, MA/Snowden) chipped in with 12 points. Jones also corralled a squad-best 12 boards in the win for the hosts.
Worcester State (10-10, 4-5 MASCAC) was propelled by junior Robert Hunter (St. Louis, MO) registered his sixth double-double of the season with a final tally of 13 points and 13 caroms.
Third-year Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) added a team-high 18 points and senior Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) poured in 15 points. Freshman Alex Lopez (Springfield, MA/Commerce) ended his night with 12 points and a contest-best six helpers in the setback for WSU.
After a close game midway through the first half, MCLA used an 11-2 spurt to open up a 22-14 advantage with 6:33 remaining.
The Trailblazers continued to lead 27-21 at the 3:05 mark before Worcester State sliced into the deficit and settled for the five point game at the half on the back of two free throws by Lopez at the half (31-26).
Coming out of the locker room, MCLA held the 35-28 early edge, but the Lancers utilized a 10-2 surge to get themselves back into the contest and take a 38-37 advantage with 14:32 left on two points in the paint by junior Jeremy Ross (Holden, MA).
Following two ties and a pair of lead changes, the hosts gave themselves some distance with a 10-2 run to go ahead 50-42 at the 10:57 mark.
Worcester State responded and made the score 50-48 with six quick points, but the Trailblazers took advantage of poor shooting by the visitors and slowly built up their margin double-digits with 4:21 remaining (65-43).
As MCLA led 69-58 with 1:47 remaining, the Lancers went on one final push in an attempt to win the contest.
Sparked by a pair of free throws by senior Kyle Ferreira (Westport, MA), the Lancers sank a three-pointer by Jobst and two consecutive triples by Lopez while MCLA answered by making their shots at the free throw line (8-for-10).
With the score 77-71 and 23 ticks left, Jobst dropped a pair of free throws to trail by four. Maurice canned the back-end of a bonus opportunity for MCLA and then Hunter converted a lay-up to make it a one-possession score.
At the line, Hunter missed a traditional three-point play conversion with 12 seconds left, but the Blue and Gold retained the ball as it was ruled to have touched the hosts its way out-of-bounds.
Lopez had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but his attempt to tie the score missed and the Trailblazers hung on for the win.
MCLA hit 41 percent of their shots from the field (29-for-70), but struggled from the charity stripe (57 percent – 16-for-28). Worcester State shrugged off a mediocre effort in the opening frame (33 percent – 10-for-30), to finish with a 43 clip in the second half (15-for-35).
For only the fourth time this season, the Trailblazers out-rebounded the visitors, 46-44, while also leading in offensive boards (22-19) and second-chance opportunities (20-8).
The Lancers led in points off turnovers (21-16), finished with a 75 percent tally from the charity stripe (20-for-27) and actually outscored the hosts, 49-47, in the second period.
Both squads continue MASCAC play on Tuesday evening. Worcester State entertains Fitchburg State at 5:30 PM while MCLA hosts Westfield State at 7:30.