Bird's 22 point effort leads MCLA Men's Basketball past Elms 77-72

North Adams, MA- MCLA's Hayden Bird came off the bench to score a game high 22 points in leading the Trailblazer men's basketball team past visiting Elms College 77-72 this afternoon in the Amsler Campus Center gym.  With the win, MCLA improves to 2-4 on the season while Elms is still in search of their first win as they drop to 0-7.

Bird was 9-13 from the floor and 3-6 from three point land for his 22 point night.  Four other Trailblazers scored in double figures, including three with 12 apiece.  Antoine Montgomery, Noah Yearsley, and Corey Jackson all posted 12 points.  Mike Demartinis chipped in with 10 for the Trailblazers.

Elms was paced by D.J. Edelen's team high of 17 points while Diomanni Fernandez and DeAngelo Cousar had 12 and 10 respectively.

Elms led 37-31 at halftime as the visitors held MCLA to just 34% shooting.  The Trailblazers came out the locker room with more energy however as they quickly went on an 11-5 run to tie things up at 42-42 with still 16:26 left to play.  Montgomery buried a three to give MCLA its first lead since early in the contest at 45-42.  The bucket ignited a 9-2 run that put MCLA in front for keeps.  Quran Davis ended the run with five straight points.

The Trailblazers would eventually move out to their biggest lead of the night at the 4:16 mark when Bird converted a short jumper to make it 67-55.  Elms, however, had one last run in them.  They would use an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to slice the deficit to just 67-63 with 1:13 left to play.  MCLA's Jackson made one of two from the line to make it a five point advantage.  After another Elms foul, Demartinis converted the second of two FT's to put the hosts up six heading into the final minute of play.  

Elms' Edelen drove for an easy two with 45 ticks left, but MCLA would make six straight FT's down the stretch to keep Elms at bay.  When Bird connected on a layup with 14 seconds left, MCLA led 75-67 essentially ending the game.

The Trailblazers ended the game shooting 38% from the floor.  Yearsley added 8 rebounds and 5 assists to his stat line.  MCLA was aided by going 21-27 from the FT line.

Elms outrebounded MCLA 49-36, but shot just 40% from the floor and committed 17 turnovers.

MCLA is back in action on Tuesday when they head to RPI.