Men's Basketball Secures Second-Straight Conference Win

SALEM, Mass. – Salem State men's basketball welcomed Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) foe this evening when they welcomed the Trailblazers of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). After 40 minutes of action, the Vikings found themselves back in the win column after edging out the Trailblazers 89-61, to improve to 2-3 in MASCAC action.

Conner Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) and Jarret Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) had all-around games, both notching double-doubles with 16 and 15 points and 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Chris MacDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) and Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) netted 15 and 14 of their own in the victory.

The Trailblazers were led by Noah Yearsley (Averill Park, N.Y.) who notched 14 points, followed by JoJo Garcia (Henderson, Nev.) and Jamie Nurse (Queens, N.Y.) who each added 11 in the effort.

How it Happened:

• Two minutes into the game, after trading three pointers and layups, both squads found themselves at a 5-point standstill before the Vikings found their offensive footing first, to put them up 12-5 with 15:33 remaining in the half.
• Over the next three minutes, the Trailblazers would score eight unanswered points to take the one-point (13-12) edge over the Vikings, however MCLA would not hold the lead for long as back-to-back three pointers from Josiah Green (Springfield, Mass.) put his squad back on top 19-17 at the halfway point of the first. Green's hot hand sparked the Vikings to take a seven-point tilt (27-22) which would tie their largest lead of the game thus far.
• The Trailblazers used the closing five minutes of the half to chip away at Salem's lead and would find themselves within two points with 90 ticks left on the clock before a 6-2 Salem run brought the game into the break with the Vikings holding the slight 44-38 advantage.
• Salem picked up where they left off, scoring six unanswered points to give them the double-digit lead (50-38) and force the Trailblazer's to use a timeout to regroup just two minutes into the half.
• Yearsley was able to stop the bleeding when his pull-up jumper landed the Trailblazers their first points of the half, but the Vikings answered with seven points of their own to take the 20-point tilt (62-42) with 15:00 minutes remaining in the game.
• A perfect trip to the charity stripe from the Trailblazers was able to bring them within 14 points (67-53) of the Vikings but once again the Vikings answered back, stringing together a trio of unanswered baskets to add to their double-digit cushion and bring the score to 74-53 with under nine minutes to play.
• The Vikings remained in the driver's seat over the final six minutes of the game, only letting MCLA get within 16 points, allowing them to cruise to the eventual 89-61 victory over the Trailblazers.