Conquest's late bucket lifts MCLA past Salem State 56-55
North Adams, MA- Adam Conquest knocked down the game winning jumper with 9 seconds left to lift the MCLA Trailblazers past the visiting Salem State Vikings 56-55 in a hard fought MASCAC game this evening. MCLA evens their conference mark at 3-3 (6-12 overall) while the Vikings fall to 2-4 (10-9 overall) in the MASCAC.
After the 13th tie of the night at 54 apiece following SSU's Hamed Akanni's bucket with 1:29 left to play, MCLA was whistled for an offensive foul. On Salem's possession, they had two good looks to score but eventually drew a foul sending Akanni to the line with 31 ticks left. The senior made the first before missing the second setting up MCLA's final possession, trailing 55-54.
After a Trailblazer timeout, guard Ruben DelRosario drove from the left side across the paint where he found a wide open Conquest in the corner. The junior touched all the iron, but it dropped with 9 seconds left giving MCLA the lead.
After another timeout, the Vikings had one last chance. Guard Bryan Ortiz drove the lane and fired a pass into the deep left corner to Anthony Hodges. His three at the buzzer just rimmed out preserving the win for the Trailblazers.
The opening half saw nine ties and eight lead changes as neither team led by more than five points. MCLA led late in the half at 24-22 when Adam Conquest converted a putback with 3:10 left. The Vikings would outscore MCLA 9-2 over the final three minutes though to grab a 31-26 lead at halftime. Salem shot 43% in the opening stanza compared to just 31% for the Trailblazers.
No Trailblazer ended in double figures as Conquest and Khalil Paul each ended with 8 points. Dakari Hannah-Wornum had a solid night off the bench collecting 8 rebounds and blocking 5 shots. DelRosario chipped in with 7 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
For the Vikings, they were paced by Akanni's game high 13 points. He also grabbed 7 rebounds. Hodges ended with 9 points. Salem was done in by a 26% shooting performance in the closing half. They also went just 14-25 at the charity stripe.
The Trailblazers will look to avenge an earlier loss to Bridgewater State when they battle the Bears on Saturday at 3pm.