Men's Hoop drops heartbreaker at buzzer in OT against MASCAC front runner Salem State 86-84

Salem, MA-- Salem State' Jarrett Byrne converted a short jumper at the buzzer in overtime to lead the Vikings Men's Basketball team to a hard fought 86-84 win over the visiting MCLA Trailblazers at Twohig Gymnasium. 

Byrne's game winner came after MCLA had a chance to win it on offense but Hayden Bird's three pointer was long.  The rebound went to Viking senior Sean Bryan with just five seconds left in the OT.  He dribbled to half court and hurled a pass towards a streaking Byrne, who caught it in the air at the left block and found the bottom of the net as time expired.

The win moves the Vikings to 13-9 overall and more importantly they stay atop the conference at 9-2.  After suffering the heartbreaking loss, MCLA is now 9-11 and 4-5 in league play.

The game was tight all the way as neither side led by more than six points.  MCLA held the lead late in the second half and seemed poised to spring the upset.  With the score tied at 72-72 in regulation after Noah Yearsley drove the lane, the MCLA defense got a much needed stop.  Playing for the final shot, the Trailblazers put the ball in Yearsley's hands.  He drove through traffic on the left side of the lane and his twisting layup just missed as the game headed into OT.  

In the extra session, MCLA's Dylan Morris-Gray converted a deep triple on the opening possession to give the visitors the edge.  After the Vikings tied things up, Morris-Gray again gave MCLA the lead on a driving layup.  Two free throws from Morris-Gray with 3:41 left gave the Trailblazers a 79-75 edge over the hosts.

Over the next two minutes, the teams traded baskets and MCLA still led 82-77 after a deep three from Morris-Gray.  From there, the Vikings rallied.  Conner Byrne added a bucket and following a steal, Chris MacDonald pulled the Vikings within one point at 82-81 forcing an MCLA timeout.

The Vikings chose to foul intentionally with 30 seconds left and they sent MCLA's Quentin Gittens to the stripe.  The junior swished both and MCLA led again 84-81.  Salem's Sean Bryan would quickly push the ball upcourt and his pull up three pointer found the bottom of the twine to tie things up at 84-84 setting up the frantic final seconds.

MCLA's Bird tried a deep three that was long and the rest is history.

Salem's Bryan finished with 32 points on 13-27 shooting.  He scored 28 points in the final half and overtime alone.  He added 10 rebounds and 5 assists.  Jarrett Byrne ended with 14 points while Conner added 13.  MacDonald chipped in with 13 points of his own.

The Vikings shot 47% from the floor.

MCLA was led by Morris-Gray's 24 point night off the bench.  He was 7-17 shooting.  Gittens ended with 22 points on 8-16 shooting and added 12 boards to his stat line.  Bird ended with 15 points while Noah Yearsley ended with 14.

MCLA shot 37% from the floor and outrebounded the Vikings 53-39.

The Trailblazers are back in action on Wednesday night when they host Worcester State.