WESTFIELD – Senior forward John Jones scored a game-high 24 points and a 3-point shooting barrage led by sophomore guard Paul Maurice and senior forward Ramon Viches powered MCLA to an 89-67 victory over Westfield State University in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
The No. 5 seed Trailblazers advance to the MASCAC semifinals and will play at No. 1 seed Salem State on Thursday. Despite its 9-16 overall record, MCLA won at Salem during the regular season while sustaining a one-point home setback to the Vikings last Saturday.
Westfield, 15-11 overall and the No. 4 seed, handled MCLA twice during the regular season by scores of 83-60 and 80-63.
But MCLA blistered the nets from beyond the arc in the tournament game, making 12 of 25 3-point attempts. Maurice was 6 for 9 from outside the arc and finished with 22 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Viches made 4 of 6 treys and scored 16 points.
Westfield sophomore reserve forward Tchuijo Nkamebo soars to the basket during first-half action. (Photo by Cody Goldman)
The Trailblazers never trailed as they drilled three threes in the opening six minutes to take a 17-6 lead. MCLA built an 18-point lead, 34-16, when Viches drained a three-ball with 4:14 remaining in the first half.
MCLA led 40-24 at halftime and Westfield closed to with 11 points, 43-32, five minutes into the second half. But the Trailblazers continued their 3-point barrage in the second half (the made six 3-pointers in each half) and began pulling away following two Maurice 3-point baskets.
The Trailblazers took their first 20-point plus lead, 70-49, on a two handed slam dunk by Tryiq Rochester with 7:07 remaining. MCLA’s biggest lead was 27 points, 84-57 with 2:01 remaining.
The Trailblazers shot well from the field (53 percent), outrebounded Westfield, 36-27, and took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers. Ruben Delrosario scored eight points and dished a game-high six assists.
Westfield scored 27 of its points from the foul line on 42 free throw attempts. The Owls shot 39 percent (19 for 49) from the floor and were silent from (2 for 7) from 3-point range.
Junior forward Grant Cooper led the Owls with 16 points and freshman reserve guard Jesus Sanchez scored 11. Senior center Carl Stewart had eight points and eight rebounds.
