MCLA mounts huge rally but comes up short at top seeded Salem 82-76

Salem, MA- The top seeded Salem State Vikings Men's basketball team clamped down on MCLA  early in the second half, then had to withstand a furious rally as they held off the Trailblazers earning a hard fought 82-76 victory in the MASCAC semifinals.  The Vikings move on to Saturday's championship game where they will host Bridgewater State.  The Bears defeated the Worcester State Lancers this evening.

MCLA wraps up its season at 9-17. 

A hotly contested first half ended with Salem holding a 34-30 lead.  The second half began with MCLA going cold and committing costly turnovers.  The combination fueled a 12-0 Viking run over the opening five minutes to open up a 46-30 lead.  The hosts would lead by as many as 19 points on two different occasions before MCLA finally heated up.

Paul Maurice sparked MCLA in the second half with three straight threes, but Salem's Bryan Ortiz answered two of them and the lead remained at 16.  Using full court pressure, MCLA embarked on a 9-0 run to get back into it and make the score 58-49 with under eight minutes to play.  Salem would extend back out to a 13 point edge before the Trailblazers made one final rally.

MCLA would get within three points in the final minutes and were forced to foul.  Salem's Hamed Akanni would drain two key free throws with 32 seconds left and teammate Andrew White stole the inbounds pass.  Two more Salem free throws pushed the lead back to seven with 25 ticks left.  MCLA would drain another three to get within four and got a steal.  They came up empty on the possession though and the Vikings made two more freebies to seal the victory.

Maurice led MCLA with 20 points including five three pointers.  Jeremic Bennett added 14 points off the bench while Ramon Viches scored 12.  John Jones scored 9 points, but did pull down 12 rebounds.

Salem placed five players in double figures led by Ortiz' 17.  White finished with 16 points and 5 assists.  Nicholas Grassa ended with 15, while Akanni and Jon Perez added 12 and 11 respectively.

MCLA was 9-23 from behind the arc while Salem was 8-16.  The Vikings did shoot 56% from the floor in the contest.  The Trailblazers were hurt by a 13-22 performance from the charity stripe.

The game marked the final contest in the careers of MCLA seniors Viches, Jones, Tyshawn McGee, James Hunter, and Rashard Taylor.