Men's Basketball can't keep pace with Worcester late as Lancers pull away 77-61

Worcester, MA- In a game that featured a pair of big second half runs, Worcester State reeled off a 31-10 spurt over the final 8:48 to pull away from a stubborn MCLA Men's Basketball team in a 77-61 victory in the MASCAC opener for both teams.  The game was played at Clark University and the Lancers improve to 9-5 overall (1-0 MASCAC) while the Trailblazers drop to 4-8 (0-1 MASCAC).

The Lancers placed four players in double figures led by Bilal Skakir's game high 21 point effort. Paul Brooks added 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.  Alex Santos dropped 12 points and Marquez McKreith-Collins added 11.

The Lancers controlled the first half, leading by 13 early in the opening stanza before settling on a 34-27 halftime lead.  Over the course of the opening minutes of half number two, the Lancers still led by ten at 46-36 before MCLA made a powerful run with just under 15 minutes remaining.

The Trailblazers would embark on a 17-0 run started by a Paul Maurice jumper and when freshman Ki-Shawn Monroe connected from deep, MCLA took the lead at 47-46.  The run would eventually end, but not til after another Monroe layup and an Isshiah Coleman jam put the Trailblazers up 51-46 with 8:48 remaining forcing a Lancer timeout.

Worcester's Santos stopped the spurt with a triple and Shakir added another on the next possession giving the Lancers the lead for good.  When Skakir converted off a steal with 4:33 left, they led 61-51 and never trailed again.

MCLA would cut it to within six on a pair of occasions, however they were forced to chuck it from deep and the Lancers would convert at the foul line to eventually pull away from MCLA.

For the Trailblazers, Maurice scored a team best 15 points off the bench on 6-13 shooting.  Monroe had his best game of his young career logging 11 points and dishing off 4 assists.  Khalil Paul added 12 points for MCLA.  The Trailblazers were hampered by shooting just 39% from the floor.  They were 6-24 from three point range and went to the free throw line just 4 times.  MCLA committed 18 turnovers.

The Lancers shot 41% from the floor and overcame 14 turnovers in the win.  Shakir and Santos each added 5 assists and McKreith Collins added 9 rebounds.

The Trailblazers are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Westfield seeking their first conference victory.