Men's Basketball captures Tri State title 82-79 over Fisher in OT, Cross named MVP

North Adams, MA- Led by All Tournament team selections Keiland Cross and Joe Wiggins, the MCLA Men's Basketball team rallied back from a 15 point halftime deficit and then held off the visiting Fisher College Falcons 82-79 in overtime to claim the 2016 Tri State Shootout championship.  Cross was named the tournament's most outstanding player after collecting 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists in the title clinching game.

Wiggins was every bit as impressive this afternoon as he also finished with 28 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the win.

Fisher used a late first half run to put some distance between the teams as they led 47-32 at halftime.  MCLA wouldn't fold though, and when Fisher led 51-36 with 17:30 left to play, the hosts made a furious rally sparked by Cross and Wiggins.

MCLA would use a 20-2 game changing spurt to pull ahead 56-53 with ten minutes left to play.  Cross had 8 points in the run while Wiggins had 8 as well.  MCLA eventually led 67-59 with 7:29 remaining before Fisher fought back to force OT.

Trailing 70-68, Fisher finally tied it with 1:17 left on a driving layup from Brodric Smith knotting the score at 70-70.  Wiggins gave MCLA a brief lead when he converted a pair of FT's, however the Falcons' Kyle Holmes converted a short jumper to send the game into OT.

In the extra session, the Falcons went ahead 79-74 on another Holmes bucket, but MCLA would hold the Falcons scoreless over the final three minutes.  A Cross jumper pulled them within 79-78 and after a stop, Cross was fouled and sent to the line.  His free throws gave MCLA the lead for good at 80-79 with just 52 ticks remaining.

MCLA got another pivotal stop in the next possession forcing Fisher to foul.  The Trailblazers Nolan Bird would convert two huge FT's with just 6 seconds left forcing Fisher to hoist up a three.  A loose ball on the offensive side for Fisher ran the clock to under a second and the Falcons never eventually got a shot off giving MCLA the tournament title.

Cross and Wiggins both went for career highs in the win.  Cross was 10-26 from the floor but also played all 45 minutes.  Wiggins also played 45 minutes and was a solid 9-20 shooting.  Joe Murray scored only 7 points but pulled down a season high 17 boards.  Tyler McKay capped off a productive weekend notching 12 points in the win.  The Trailblazers shot 37% from the floor in the win.

For Fisher, Holmes paced the offense to the tune of 22 points on 10-21 shooting.  Cooper Neal ended with 19 points and 8 rebounds while Darrell Grady finished with 16 points and 11 caroms.  Smith also finished in double figures with 12 points.

The All Tournament team consisted of the following:

Keiland Cross (MVP)- MCLA
Joe Wiggins- MCLA
Kyle Holmes- Fisher
Andreas Kontopedis- RPI
Rayshawn Taylor- SVC

In the consolation game, RPI handed Southern Vermont a 75-67 defeat.

MCLA will take on Norwich on Tuesday wrapping up first semester play.