MCLA set to battle Salem in MASCAC semifinals

North Adams, MA- On Thursday night, the second seeded MCLA Trailblazers will welcome the defending MASCAC champion Salem State Vikings to the Amsler Campus Center Gym in the semifinals of the conference tournament.  The third seeded Vikings disposed of 6th seeded Worcester State on Tuesday night setting up an anticpated semifinal.

The Trailblazers swept the season series from Salem, the first time that has happened in 25 years.  MCLA earned a conference opening 77-72 win back on January 7th at home before rallying to defeat the Vikings 92-81 just 22 days later.

MCLA is under the direction of the 2012-13 MASCAC coach of the year Jamie Morrison.  Under his guidance, the Trailblazers went 9-3 in conference play to secure a first round bye in the postseason.  MCLA has used a balanced scoring attack all season long as evidenced by only one player, John Jones, averaging double figures.  In each victory over Salem, MCLA placed at least five players in double figures.

The Vikings are led by head coach Chris Harvey.  His troops went 7-5 this season in conference play.  Salem is the reigning tournament champion having bested Bridgewater State a year ago to clinch the NCAA bid.  The Vikings are a potent offensive club as four players are averaging in double figures.  Guard Bryon Ortiz leads the team with just under 14 ppg.  Other Vikings in double figures are Justin Nieves, Tavone Wynder, and Andrew White.

Game time is set for 7pm.  In the event that fans can't make it to the Amsler CC Gym, there are ways to stay in touch with the game's happenings.  Fans can view updates from the following sources:

Live Video-  http://mascac.tv

Live Stats-  http://livestats.prestosports.com/mcla/

Twitter Updates- www.twitter.com/mclaathletics

North Adams Transcript Sports Blog- http://blogs.thetranscript.com/sports/