Men's Basketball Falls to MCLA on Senior Night, 79-73

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guard Quentin Gittens (Pittsfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 24 points and senior forward Hayden Bird (North Adams, Mass.) added 21 points including the 1,000th of his career to lead the visiting MCLA men's basketball team to a 79-73 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over Bridgewater State University on Friday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Trailblazers improve to 10-12 on the season and 5-6 in the MASCAC, while the Bears fall to 4-18 overall and 2-9 in conference play.

The game marked Senior Night for Bridgewater State as well as the front end of a home-and-home series between the two teams. The Bears and the Trailblazers will wrap up regular season play on Sunday afternoon at one o'clock from MCLA's Amsler Campus Center Gym.

Gittens finished with a double-double as he also pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds (five offensive) to go along with five assists.

Bird added eight rebounds (five offensive), two steals and two blocked shots. His milestone basket, a three-pointer, came with 18:25 remaining in the second half.

Graduate guard Noah Yearsley (Averill Park, N.Y.) checked in with 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting for the Trailblazers. Yearsley also went 5-for-6 from the free throw line and notched three rebounds, three steals and three blocks before fouling out early in the second half.

Gittens, Bird and Yearsley combined for 63 of MCLA's 79 points.

Four Bears finished in double-figure scoring with sophomore forward Keyth Key (Springfield, Mass.) leading the way with 16 points and nine rebounds (three offensive) to go along with two assists and two steals. Freshman guard Quinton Champagne (Wrentham, Mass.) also scored 16 points for Bridgewater State. Champagne went 8-for-9 from the free throw line and added two assists and four steals.

Graduate forward Jordan Wetterlind (Twig, Minn.) checked in with 12 points and eight boards, while sophomore guard Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) tallied 12 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Senior guard Alan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.) added nine points, five rebounds and five assists for the Bears.

The Trailblazers held a 29-26 lead late in the first half but closed out the stanza with an 11-4 run to take a ten-point advantage (40-30) into the break. Freshman guard JoJo Garcia (Henderson, Nev.) jumpstarted the run with a three-pointer while Gittens scored MCLA's final six points of the period.

Yearsley led all players with 14 points in the first half while Bird tallied ten. Wetterlind notched nine points on 4 of 5 shooting in the opening stanza but picked up his third foul in the final minute.

MCLA maintained the lead throughout the second half and got up by as many as 16 points including a 74-58 advantage following a pair of Gittens free throws with 6:06 left to play.

Bridgewater, however, came roaring back. The Bears reeled off 13 straights points over a 3 ½ minute stretch to cut the deficit to three (74-71) with 2:39 remaining. Parsons scored seven points during the run, including a three-pointer, while Champagne went 4-for-4 from the line.

Gittens stopped the run with a layup and, after a stop, made 1 of 2 at the line to make it a 77-71 game with 1:31 showing on the scoreboard. The Trailblazers forced a turnover on the ensuing possession and the two teams exchanged free throws in the final 36 seconds to account for the final tally of 79-73.

MCLA shot 42% (25-60) for the game including 6-for-20 from behind the arc. The Trailblazers also went 23-for-27 (85%) at the charity stripe.

The Bears connected on 38% (23-60) of their field goal attempts and went 5-for-20 (25%) from three-point range and 22-for-33 (67%) at the line.

Bridgewater held Senior Night festivities prior to the start of the game as the Bears honored Wetterlind, Pettway and David Laine (Bourne, Mass.).