MCLA Men fall to SVC 80-60 in Tri State final, DelRosario and Conquest named All Tourney team

Courtesy of SVC Sports Information

BENNINIGTON, Vt. — The 2014 Tri-State Shootout concluded Sunday afternoon at Southern Vermont College's Mountaineer Athletic Center with the hosting team hoisting the tournament trophy for the second straight year. SVC defeated Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts 80-60 after Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute downed Vermont Technical College 78-53 in the consolation matchup.

The Mountaineers have now won four straight games for a 6-2 record on the season while RPI moves to 2-5 with its victory. MCLA and Vermont Tech. drop to 2-5 and 2-7, respectively, with the losses.

SVC junior DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Connecticut) was named the tournament MVP, joining teammate Casey Hall (Albany, New York) on the 2014 Tri-State Shootout All-Tournament Team. MCLA senior Ruben Delrosaio (Springfield, Massachusetts) and sophomore Adam Conquest(Gardner, Massachusetts) were also named to the All-Tournament squad along with VTC junior Jamal Hughes (Stone Mountain, Georgia) and RPI junior Tyler Gendron (Merrimack, New Hampshire).

Coming off a triple-overtime buzzer-beater to make it to the championship round, MCLA came out of the gate with momentum, grabbing boards and making shots before a three-ball by junior TrailblazerKhalil Paul (Troy, New York) made it 12-5 in favor of the visitors. After some back-and-forth, a pair of three-pointers by Paul bumped his team's lead up to 22-13 with 10:51 to go in the first, the largest lead MCLA would have on the day.

Southern Vermont freshman Daemond Carter (Forestville, Maryland) then put his team on his back to chip away at the deficit; he stole the ball from MCLA and went down for the fast-break layup, and then did the same thing off the Trailblazers' next possession while drawing the foul; he would hit the free throw for the three-point play to make it a 22-18 MCLA lead. Those steal-and-scores were part of a strong 22-2 SVC run that put the Mountaineers up 35-24 with 1:53 to play in the opening period.

The Trailblazers utilized their trips to the free throw line to get a few points, but Hamlet closed the half with a layup that sent Southern Vermont to the break with a 37-27 lead.

Hall came out of the intermission with a hot hand, hitting the first four SVC baskets. MCLA responded, however, to keep the Mountaineers from pulling away. One-of-two free throws by Trailblazer junior Paul Maurice (Mattapan, Massachusetts) eventually cut it to a 47-42 SVC lead, but Southern Vermont then went on a 10-0 run with a pair of slams by senior Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Maryland) to once again extend the difference.

Both sides knocked down shots before SVC scored seven unanswered, five coming from the charity stripe, to put the game away en route to the 80-60 final, taking claim to its second-straight Tri-State Shootout title.

Hamlet finished with a double-double, notching 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Hall scored a team-best 15 points to go with six rebounds and three blocks, and Olugbile pitched in with 10 points and nine boards. Mountaineer junior William Bromirski (Cambridge, New York) added nine points and a game-best four steals while Carter totaled nine points, three assists and a pair of swipes.

Conquest dropped a game-best 22 points while just missing the double-double with nine rebounds. Maurice scored seven points and grabbed nine caroms while sophomore Isshiah Coleman(Dorchester, Massachusetts) had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.

SVC turned the 23 MCLA turnovers into 31 points while the Trailblazers scored only 12 off their 13 takeaways. Southern Vermont controlled the key, putting home 44 points from the inside compared to 22 for MCLA. The Mountaineers shot 45.6 percent from the floor (31-68) while the Trailblazers connected on 21-of-66 attempts for a 31.8 field goal percentage.

Southern Vermont is back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Vassar College for a 7 p.m. start, the final game for the Mountaineers before the finals and holiday break. MCLA next visits Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip-off.