MCLA ends season in loss to top seed Salem State in MASCAC Semifinals 96-75

Salem, MA- The fifth seeded MCLA Trailblazers fell to the conference's top seed, the Salem State Vikings by a score of 96-75 in one of the MASCAC semifinals held this evening.  MCLA finishes its season at 8-19 overall while the Vikings move on to the championship round where they will face Bridgewater State University.

The Vikings broke open a close game in the second half.  Salem led by just four points at halftime at 40-36 before exploding in the final twenty minutes.  MCLA had no answer for MASCAC player of the year Brian Clark.  He finished with a game high 28 points.

After the teams traded buckets out of the locker room over the opening three minutes, Salem began its powerful run.  With the score at 46-41, Viking forward Nate Simpson began the run with five straight points on a jumper and a three pointer giving Salem a ten point edge at 51-41. 

Salem would extend out to a thirteen point lead following dunks by Clark and Andrew White, eventually leading 63-50 with 11:26 to play.  MCLA cut the lead to 11 points at 65-54 on a Vernon Cross jumper, but Salem quickly responded with another Simpson jumper and a pair of Justin Nieves free throws to go back up by 15.

MCLA got no closer than 13 points the remainder of the contest. 

Brown finished with a team high 23 points, 15 of which came in the opening period keeping the Trailblazers in it.  He was 11-13 from the floor and added 8 rebounds.  Young would collect 18 points while dishing out three assists.  MCLA shot 51% on the night, but was doomed by 19 turnovers leading to 30 Viking points.

Clark shot an equally impressive 8-12 en route to his 28 points.  He also went 11-14 from the charity stripe.  Simpson helped control the glass finishing with 18 rebounds and 15 points.  Tavone Wynder came off the bench to collect 13 points, including a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc.  White would chip in with 12 points and 7 assists.

Salem held a commanding edge off the glass outrebounding MCLA 42-29.  The held a 20-7 advantage in second chance points. 

The contest marked the final one for eight MCLA seniors: Chris Harris, Jamal Brown, Tyrell Mosley, Michael Robinson, Tim Fish, Connell Brown, Michael Young, and Pedro Ferrer.