Men's basketball challenges Salem State tonight in MASCAC semifinals
North Adams, MA- Fresh off a convincing win over the Westfield State Owls on Tuesday night, the MCLA Men's basketball team will travel to Salem this evening to battle the Salem State Vikings in the MASCAC semifinals. The fifth seeded Trailblazers split the season series with the regular season champion Vikings.
The winner will move on to the MASCAC championship game this Saturday afternoon.
Back on January 28th, the Trailblazers won a thriller at Salem that ultimately turned their season around. Trailing by a point late, MCLA's Todd Hunt converted a reverse layup with 4 seconds to go to lift the Trailblazers over the Vikings 59-58. The key victory would start a stretch in which MCLA won four of five games to get back into the thick of the playoff race following a tough start.
The two teams would square off again in the regular season finale just five days ago in North Adams. The Vikings would ultimately hold off MCLA 54-53 and in the process secure the regular season MASCAC championship. In that contest, MCLA held Salem to a single point over the last four minutes to mount their closing rally. Ramon Viches' three point attempt as the clock wound down was off the mark giving Salem the road win.
MCLA is paced by All MASCAC forward John Jones. Jones had a stellar showing in the quarterfinals against Westfield scoring a game high 24 points. MCLA was outstanding from downtown in that victory connecting on 12-25 shots from beyond the arc, including a 6-9 performance from Paul Maurice.
The Vikings are paced by All MASCAC selections Bryan Ortiz and Andrew White. The duo both average double figures with Ortiz a threat behind the three point line. Hamed Akanni has been productive in the two meetings against the Trailblazers scoring in double figures both games.