WORCESTER, Mass.- Erik Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) recorded a double-double before the first half was even over to record a win for the Worcester State Lancers in a Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference win over the MCLA Trailblazers Saturday afternoon at John P. Brissette court.
With the win, the Lancers improve their record to 9-7 (2-1, MASCAC). With the loss, the Trailblazers fall to an overall record 4-11 (0-3, MASCAC).
Both teams battled in the opening minutes of the game for the lead. Tyler Dion (Barre, Mass.) opened up the game with a triple and was quickly answered by Antoine Montgomery (Boston, Mass.). It was a defensive battle before the Trailblazers put up a pair of threes giving them their largest lead of the game of 11 points. Worcester State didn't go away easily and a pair of free throws from Bjorn and a following layup put the Lancers within two.
The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the half before sending MCLA into the locker room with a lead of 37-36.
Both defenses came out strong in the beginning of the second half when both teams battled back and forth for the lead. A second chance layup from Frantz Francois (Boston, Mass.) at the 9:47 mark in the game set the Lancers ahead and they never looked back. A triple from Joe Desormier (Granby, Mass.) and a pair of Shaun McCarthy (Oxford, Mass.) free throws put the game away for the Lancers.
Montgomery led the scoring for the Trailblazers putting up 17 points for the their offense and grabbing four steals in the matchup. Ki-Shawn Monroe (Springfield, Mass.) led the MCLA defense finishing with eight rebounds.
Bjorn ended the afternoon with 15 boards, nine of them offensive and grabbed 16 points. Dion led the scoring for Worcester State totaling 18 points in the conference matchup. The Lancers held a 62-35 rebound advantage in the matchup.
Next up for the Lancers, they will head to Fitchburg State University on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. MCLA hosts Fitchburg State on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off scheduled.
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