Men’s Basketball Open Season with Victory at Vermont State University-Lyndon

LYNDON, VT. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team never trailed when they opened their season on the road at Vermont State Lyndon this evening, coming home with a 97-84 victory.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
• Score: MCLA 97, Vermont State Lyndon 84
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 1-0 (MASCAC 0-0) | VTSU-Lyndon Hornets 0-1 (NAC 0-0)

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Trailblazers scored the game's first nine points before the Hornets scored their first points. Mamadou Diallo scored the first points of the season for MCLA with a layup 13 seconds into the game, the first two of a dozen points scored by Diallo. Diallo also pulled down 10 rebounds for the team's first double-double of the season.
• MCLA worked out to their largest lead of the first half on a three-pointer from Dylan Morris-Gray with 13:21 remaining in the half. With the three-ball, the Trailblazers were up 23-11. Morris-Gray finished the game with 22 points, trailing only teammate Quentin Gittens, who scored a game-high 26 points.
• The Hornets did mount a comeback to close the lead to only four points at half-time when the score was 48-44. Multiple times in the closing minutes of the first half, the Hornets would get as close as two points.
• The small lead would evaporate coming out of half-time when the VTSU-Lyndon scored on layups by Calder Horowitz-McCadden and Peyton Olson. Hayden Morris-Gray responded with a layup of his own that was assisted by his brother Dylan with 18:15 on the clock.
• From that point on, the Trailblazers slowly worked the lead back out to as many as 14 points with just over a minute remaining.
• MCLA out-rebounded the Hornets by a significant margin, 52-28, including a 19-6 edge in offensive rebounds. That edge propelled the Trailblazers to a 23-9 advantage in second-chance points.
• Jaxen Potter added 10 points off the bench as four different Trailblazers scored in double-digits.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: MCLA 33-72 / 45.8%, VTSU-Lyndon 29-65 / 44.6%
• 3 Points / %: MCLA 9-28 / 32.1 %, VTSU-Lyndon 8-22 / 36.4%
• Free Throw / %: MCLA 22-32 / 68.8%, VTSU-Lyndon 18-39 / 62.1%
• Rebounds: MCLA 52, VTSU-Lyndon 28
• Points off Turnovers: MCLA 20, VTSU-Lyndon 14
• Second Chance Points: MCLA 23, VTSU-Lyndon 9
• Points in the Paint: MCLA 46, VTSU-Lyndon 40

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to Rivier for a non-conference matchup with the Raiders at the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. The teams will take the floor for a noon tip-off.

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