Men's Basketball places three players on All MASCAC Second Team
2021-22 All MASCAC Men's Basketball Release
North Adams, MA-- The All MASCAC men's basketball teams were released this morning and the MCLA program was well represented. The Trailblazers placed three players, Hayden Bird, Noah Yearsley, and Quentin Gittens, on the second team. MCLA wrapped up their season last week in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. MCLA finished their season at 10-13 but the trio on the all conference team had standout seasons.
Graduate guard Sean Bryan of Salem State and junior forward Brendon Hamilton of Westfield State are the 2021-22 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player and Defensive Player of the Year and headline the All-Conference team which is voted on by the seven coaches around the conference. Ryan Rubenskas of Worcester State is the 2021-22 MASCAC Rookie of the Year while Rich Sutter of Westfield State has been named the Champion's Choice Coach of the Year as voted by his peers.
The MCLA trio was led this season by Bird. He led the team in scoring at 18 ppg and was among the nations leaders in three point shooting. The 18 ppg placed him second in the MASCAC in scoring behind Salem's Bryan. The senior from Clarksburg scored a career best 38 points and broke the school record with 12 three point field goals in a win over Rivier back on November 13th. He nearly repeated the feat just one week later as he went off against Rutgers-Camden to the tune of 33 points and knocked down 11 more triples.
Bird scored in double figures every game this season except one and late in the season became the 21st player in school history to reach 1,000 points. The milestone bucket came on the road in a win over Bridgewater State two weeks ago. His 192 three pointers made in his career place him third all time at MCLA. Bird had a remarkable season shooting as he had 9 games with five or more three pointers made.
Yearsley is no stranger to the MASCAC honors. He was the Rookie of the Year back in 2018 and earned second team honors in 2020.
The graduate student from Averill Park, NY was limited early on this season due to injury but still managed to have a solid campaign. He ended the season averaging 15.8 points per game (3rd in the MASCAC) and was third in blocked shots. Yearsley had his best performance in the MASCAC opener against eventual champion Westfield State. He went for 26 points in that contest which would be his season high. Yearsley would end the season with a 25 point night in the season ending loss to Fitchburg State in the MASCAC Quarterfinals. Similar to Bird, Yearsley was held under double figures in just three of sixteen starts this season.
Yearsley, who has another year of eligibility remaining, is also approching the history books. He currently sits at 990 career points as a Trailblazers in just three seasons.
Rounding out the All MASCAC contingent is Gittens. The junior came into his own this season averaging 13.3 points, 4 assists, and 7.3 rebounds for the Trailblazers. In conference play only, Gittens was second in scoring at 16.9 points a night. Late in the season was where Gittens was at his best. Over MCLA's final eight games, Gittens averaged 17.6 points and was named the conference's player of the week. He scored in double figures in each of those contests including a career best 24 point, 11 rebound, 5 assist night in a win over Bridgewater State.
The Pittsfield, MA native shot the ball well all season ending at 43% from the floor. His versatility made him a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses down the stretch.