Men’s Basketball Routed at Rivier in Season Opener
MCLA fell 88-65 in their season-opening game at Rivier University.
NASHUA, NH— MCLA's Hayden Morris-Gray finished tied with a game-high 18 points but it wasn't nearly enough as host Rivier University placed six different players in double figures on their way to a dominating 88-65 win over the Trailblazers.
Morris-Gray scored seven of the Trailblazers first ten points including a pair of free throws to cut the early Rivier lead to 14-10 at the 13:52 mark of the first half but that was as close as MCLA got the rest of the day.
In less than seven minutes Rivier used a 21-4 run to swell its lead to 35-14 and ultimately took a 57-25 advantage into the locker room on 58.8% shooting from the field while holding the Trailblazers to just 26.7%.
The hosts levelled off a bit in the second half and MCLA managed to regain its bearings. A Jake Bluestein 3-pointer with 10:55 cut the deficit to 67-47 but an Odarious Cade jumper stopped the bleeding for Rivier asthey cruised to the 88-65 nonconference win.
Cade led the Raiders with 18 points while teammates Matt Constant (16 points), Robenson Baguidy (15 points), Kyler Bosse (13 points), Joey Merrill (11 points) and Ra'Quan Groves (11 points) all reached double figures.
For the game River shot 34-66 (51.5%) from the field going 9-27 (33.3%) from beyond the arc, while MCLA shot 22-65 (33.8%) from the field including 9-31 (29%) from three-point land.
Rivier will next host Hartford University on Tuesday night while MCLA hosts Sage College Wednesday evening at 6pm.
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