MCLA Men rally past Coast Guard 57-56
Ruben DelRosario led a second half rally finishing with 12 points in MCLA's come from behind victory against Coast Guard Academy.
Middletown, CT- The MCLA Trailblazers rallied from a 16 point halftime deficit to stun the Coast Guard Academy 57-56 in the consolation game of the Wesleyan Tip Off Classic. The Trailblazers even their mark at 1-1 while Coast Guard dropped its second straight game.
John Jones led MCLA with 18 points while Ruben DelRosario added 11. Coast Guard was led by Avierre Conner who finished with 14 points. Eli Sponseller chipped in with 12.
MCLA took an early 13-9 lead before going cold the rest of the first half. The Trailblazers were outscored 20-0 over the final 5:31 as Coast Guard took a 29-13 lead into halftime. Each team shot poorly in the opening frame as MCLA connected on just 21% of their shots while Coast Guard wasn't much better as they finished at 28%.
Each team was sloppy with the ball as Coast Guard turned it over 17 times in the opening half while MCLA committed 15.
In the second half, Coast Guard doubled up MCLA at 36-18 before the Trailblazers mounted a comeback. They used a 13-0 run fueled by John Jones who scored seven points in the run. Coast Guard answered though, outscoring MCLA 8-2 over the next two and a half minutes to stretch back out to a 44-33 lead with ten minutes to play.
The Trailblazers would finally mount a rally and eventually take the lead on Todd Hunt's three point play with under three minutes remaining making the score 53-52. After Coast Guard's Eli Sponseller made one of two from the line to tie it at 53, Ruben DelRosario drove the lane, converted, and was fouled. He calmly sank the free throw to give MCLA a 56-53 lead at the 1:45 mark.
After each side had an empty possession, DelRosario was fouled and converted one of two to give MCLA a four point lead at 57-53. Coast Guard got a free throw to pull within three at 57-54 and then converted a putback with two seconds left to climb within one. MCLA turned over the inbounds pass, however Coast Guard's last second chance was off the mark.
The Trailblazers will challenge Fisher College on Tuesday.