Men's Basketball falls in high scoring affair with Lancers 96-89

North Adams, MA- Worcester State's Tyler and Sam Dion combined for 54 points to lead the Lancers to a key Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference (MASCAC) win over the MCLA Trailblazers 96-89 in the Amsler Campus Center Gym.  The Lancers split the season series with MCLA and are now 12-11 overall, but more importantly 8-2 in the conference.

MCLA drops their third straight to fall to 14-9 on the season and is 7-4 in the conference.

Tyler Dion went 8-12 from the floor, but a perfect 10-10 from the line for his game best 29 point night.  He also dished out a game best 8 assists.  Sam Dion went 8-11 which included a 6-9 performance from behind the three point line.  He ended with 25 points.

Corey Olivier added 13 points while Erik Bjorn ended with 10 points and 9 rebounds before fouling out.  The Lancers shot 51% from the floor in the contest but made an even more remarkable 16-27 three pointers in the win.

MCLA led 40-39 at the half as Noah Yearsley beat the buzzer.  The Trailblazers still led 46-43 after a Mike Demartinis layup, but from there, the Lancers took control.  They would eventually tie things up at 52-52 on Tyler Dion's jumper and then took the lead for keeps when he converted a pair of FT's.  That ignited an 18-3 spurt that gave the Lancers their largest lead of the day at 68-55 with 9:58 left to play.

Every time MCLA made a run, the Lancers answered the call.  With 2:25 left, Worcester's Corey Olivier connected on a mid range jumper to give the Lancers an 85-73 lead.  From there, MCLA wouldn't go quietly.

MCLA used a 14-5 run to get within three at 90-87 on a Quentin Gittens layup, but the Lancers made 5-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Gittens scored a season best 22 points to lead MCLA.  He was 10-12 from the floor and pulled down 5 boards.  Noah Yearsley added 21 points with five three's.  Ki-Shawn Monroe ended with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

The Trailblazers shot 53% from the floor, but were hurt by 17 turnovers.

Prior to the contest, MCLA honored their five seniors who played their final home game this afternoon.  Honored pregame were Hans Resignac, Victor Stewart, Damon Daniel, Antoine Montgomery, and Ki-Shawn Monroe.

MCLA is off until next Saturday when they head to Westfield State in the regular season finale.