Men's Basketball ends season with MASCAC quarterfinal loss at Salem State 78-63

Courtesy of Salem State Sports Information

Salem, Mass. -- Seniors Nicholas Grassa (Lynn, MA) and Hamed Akanni (Fitchburg, MA) each tallied 13 points to lift the #4 seed Vikings of Salem State past the # 5 seed Trailblazers of MCLA 78-63 in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament on Tuesday night at Twohig Gymnasium. With the win, Salem State will move on to play the top seeded Owls of Westfield State in the MASCAC semi-finals on Thursday. Salem State improves to 14-12 while MCLA ends their season with a record of 8-18.
 
After a pair of made free throws from Todd Hunt (Cambridge, NY) and a Ruben Delrosario (Springfield, MA) layup, the Trailblazers opened with a 4-0 lead which would be their last of the ball game as a Vikings' run which ended in a Bryan Ortiz (Salem, MA) three-pointer put the Vikings in control. Salem State looked inside to Drew Healy (Lowell, MA) who led all scorers with eight first-half points including a powerful dunk that gave the Vikings a 22-17 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half. The dunk was part of a 10-0 run that lifted Salem State to an 11-point lead, their largest margin of the night. Just before the half Anthony Barbosa (Worcester, MA) converted on an and-one opportunity to cut the deficit to 28-20, giving the Vikings a comfortable edge entering the second half.
 
Salem State began to run away with the score as Anthony Hodges (Worcester, MA) sparked an 11-0 run to open the second half, giving Salem State a 44-27 advantage with 15:12 left to play. The Vikings' shooters improved dramatically in the second half as they shot 68.2% from the floor compared to 38.7% in the first. MCLA's offense was aggressive driving the ball to the basket, but they could not convert as poor free throw shooting (16-32) 50% undermined their comeback attempt. Salem State's largest lead came at the 6:00 mark after Ortiz sank two free throws. The Vikings shot 18-24 (75%) from the foul line, but it was enough to secure a 78-63 victory in a game marred by four technicals and 49 fouls.
 
Healy finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Delrosario anchored the Trailblazers with 11 points and Barbosa contributed 10 points.
 
The Vikings will advance to the MASCAC semi-finals where they will face-off against the regular season champion Owls of Westfield State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Westfield, Mass.   

The contest was the final game in the careers of Ruben DelRosario, Anthony Barbosa, Kenny Suggs, Kraig Page, and Todd Hunt.