Men's Basketball Clipped by Worcester State, 71-70

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Basketball team welcomed Worcester State to the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium this evening for a MASCAC matchup with the Lancers. The game was a matchup of two of the MASCAC's most prolific three-point shooting teams, with the Trailblazers having shot the most triples and made the second most in the MASCAC despite having played one less game than any other team in the conference. The Lancers are not afraid of dialing long distance either, having made and taken the third most in the conference. The teams would live up to their reputations by combining for 44 three-pointers attempted. Worcester's Brandon Goris led all scorers with 29 points, MCLA's Jackson Brown led the Trailblazers with 19 points, and Quentin Gittens had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2025
• Score: Worcester 71, MCLA 70
• Records: Worcester State University Owls 7-12 (MASCAC 4-2) | MCLA Trailblazers 3-15 (MASCAC 1-5)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game started as a tug-of-war with seven lead changes and three ties, all occurring in the first nine minutes of the game. Junior guard Jake Bluestein (San Diego, CA) knocked down a three with 11:21 left in the first period to put MCLA in front 16-15, but it would be the last time the Trailblazers would hold the lead because Junior Efosa's layup kicked off a 13-0 run for the Lancers.
• MCLA rallied back to cut the deficit to only two points going into the half on junior forward Jayden Mills' (Bronx, NY) layup with 16 seconds to go.
• Worcester started the second half with another hot streak, going on an 18-7 run to build their largest lead of the evening at 54-41 with 13:44 to play. And just like the first half, MCLA chipped away at that lead. With just over two minutes to play, senior guard JoJo Garcia (Henderson, NV) banged in a three to cut the lead back to one at 69-68.
• After missing a jump shot, the Lancers' Sam Davies got his own rebound and laid the ball in to stretch the lead back to three points at 71-68. Garcia drained a pair of free throws with 62 seconds to play, but Worcester's staunch defense left the final score at 71-70.
• The Lancers' Brandon Goris paced all scorers with 29 points, while Camdyn Shoesmith had a game-high 12 rebounds.
• MCLA was paced by 19 points from graduate student forward Jackson Brown (Latham, NY) and a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds from senior guard Quentin Gittens (Pittsfield, MA). Mills and junior guard Craig Williams (Dover, DE) rounded out the quartet of Trailblazers with double-digit point totals, adding 11 and 10 points, respectively. Garcia finished the game with a team-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: Worcester 28-62 / 45.2%, MCLA 25-59 / 42.4%
• 3 Points / %: Worcester 5-18 / 27.8%, MCLA 9-26 / 34.6%
• Free Throw / %: Worcester 10-16 / 62.5%, MCLA 11-14 / 78.6%
• Rebounds: Worcester 36, MCLA 36
• Second Chance Points: Worcester 10, MCLA 5
• Points in the Paint: Worcester 38, MCLA 32
• Bench Points: Worcester 15, MCLA 9

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when it hosts Fitchburg State in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium for a MASCAC matchup with the Falcons. The tip-off is scheduled for noon.

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