Posted: Feb 21, 2022

Men's Basketball set to play Fitchburg State at Williams College Tuesday Night at 7:30

North Adams, MA-- The MCLA Men's Basketball team has received the #4 seed in this week's MASCAC Basketball Championships. The Trailblazers were slated to host #5 seed Fitchburg State tomorrow, however due to recent campus events the college has made the decision to move the game to nearby Williams College. Game time is now slated for 7:30pm.

Spectators wishing to attend must show proof of vaccination and event staff will open the doors at 7pm. The winner will move on to Thursday's semifinal round.

Fitchburg and MCLA split the season series with each team winning on the road. The Falcons earned a hard fought 60-59 win in late January before the Trailblazers knocked them off 74-64 in Fitchburg.

MASCAC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

For the second straight time, Westfield State has earned the number one seed in the Tournament. Barring upsets in the quarterfinal round, the winner of MCLA/Fitchburg will travel to face the Owls.

Starting with the first round Tuesday, February 22, #4 MCLA hosts #5 Fitchburg State, #2 Salem State hosts #7 Framingham State at 7 pm and #3 Worcester State hosts #6 Bridgewater State at 7:30 pm. Top seed Westfield State will play the lowest remaining seed on Thursday, February 24 at 7 pm while the two other first round game winners will face off for a spot in the championship. Then on Saturday, February 26, the two semifinal winners will meet for a shot at the MASCAC Tournament title.

Westfield State finished the conference slate with a 10-2 record to claim a share of the MASCAC Regular Season title. Brendon Hamilton is not only in the top of the MASCAC in rebounds but DIII averaging 14.4 rebounds which is second-most in the nation currently. He is also averaging 15.6 points with a league-best 55 blocks plus 49 assists and 29 steals.

Earning the other share of the MASCAC Regular Season title is Salem State with a 10-2 record for the second seed in this week's tournament. Sean Bryan, in his final season for the Vikings, is averaging a conference-leading 20.8 points with 129 assists and 48 steals. He collected 154 rebounds while shooting 83.8 percent from the free throw line.

Grabbing the third seed and first round hosting duties is Worcester State who ended the MASCAC season 9-3. In the middle for the Lancers, Erik Bjorn is averaging a double-double of 11 points and 11.9 rebounds while tallying 59 assists, 22 blocks and 15 steals.

MCLA is the final first round host after finishing with five league wins for the fourth seed. Hayden Bird joins Hamilton on the DIII national stats list with the most three-point attempts currently (254) and second-most on number made (97). He is averaging 18.3 points per game while shooting 38 percent from behind the arc plus collecting 38 assists, 15 steals and eight blocks.

Fitchburg State had four MASCAC victories to grab the fifth seed in this year's tournament. The Falcons' Quincy Taylor leads the league in field goal percentage at 54.6 and offensive rebounds with 112. He is currently averaging 9.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game with 24 assists, 13 steals and 13 blocks.

Rounding out the 2022 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament field are Bridgewater State and Framingham State with the sixth and seventh seed, respectively. For the Bears, Alan Pettway is leading the way, averaging 11 points per game while netting 40 assists, 14 steals while shooting 74.6 percent from the charity stripe. In his first season for the Rams, Joshua-Daniel Okafor finished the regular season averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds with a shooting percentage of 48.9 percent.

Top seed Westfield State won their first MASCAC title in five years when they defeated second seed Worcester State, 81-77 at the 2020 MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.