Williams Sets New Career-High, but Men’s Basketball Tripped Up at the Cadet/Mariner Classic

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The MCLA Men's Basketball Team traveled to Mitchell College for the Cadet/Mariner Classic. The Trailblazers opened the tournament with a matchup against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Bears. Craig Williams scored a career-high 23 points, and five Trailblazers scored in double figures, but a steal by the Bears' Luke Farrell with a second to play sealed a win for the USCGA.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Friday, November 22, 2024
• Score: MCLA 83, USCGA 86
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 0-6 (MASCAC 0-0) | U.S. Coast Guard Academy Bears 2-1 (NEWMAC 0-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bears jumped out to an early lead, eventually growing their advantage to as many as 14 points with about eight and a half minutes to go in the first half. The Trailblazers began to chip away at that lead, getting to within three points on a layup from junior guard Craig Williams (Dover, DE) with just over two minutes to go in the opening frame before going into the halftime locker room trailing 46-41
• MCLA opened the second half with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 48 all, when Williams made a layup following a defensive rebound from senior guard JoJo Garcia (Henderson, NV). The teams then punched and counterpunched until USCGA started to pull away in the middle of the second half, eventually restoring a double-digit lead with just over ten minutes to play.
• Again, the Trailblazers chipped away, getting to within a point on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Hayden Morris-Gray (Port Jefferson Station, NY) with about 100 seconds to play and the score 82-81. It would be as close as MCLA would get.
• Williams set a new career-high, finishing with a team-high 23 points and dishing out a game-high five assists. Four other Trailblazers crossed the double-digit threshold. Graduate student forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY) scored 16 points, Morris-Gray added 15 points, junior forward Jayden Mills (Bronx, NY) contributed 12, and Garcia rounded out the quintet with 11 points.
• Ben Yagy scored a game-high 25 points off the bench for the Bears, Declan Rooney added another 20 points, and Luke Farrell posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: MCLA 27-69 / 39.1%, USCGA 29-66 / 43.9%
• 3 Points / %: MCLA 13-38 / 34.2%, USCGA 9-25 / 36%
• Free Throw / %: MCLA 16-25 / 64%, USCGA 19-26 / 73.1%
• Rebounds: MCLA 36, USCGA 45
• Points off Turnovers: MCLA 11, USCGA 14
• Second Chance Points: MCLA 14, USCGA 21
• Points in the Paint: MCLA 28, USCGA 38
• Bench Points: MCLA 6, USCGA 43

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they wrap up their portion of the Cadet/Mariner Classic with a matchup with the Mitchell Mariners at the Coast Guard's Roland Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

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