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Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

Fitchburg State 68, Westfield State 61

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Junior guard Mike Ingram-Rubin scored a game-high 26 points and senior forward Tom Henneberry had 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to lead Fitchburg State University to a 68-61 upset victory over Westfield State University in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament semi-finals on Thursday, Feb. 21.
 
Fitchburg, the No. 5 seed with a 15-10 overall record, advances to the MASCAC championship game where faces MCLA on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 1:00 p.m. in North Adams.
 
No. 2 seed MCLA defeated No. 3 seed Salem State, 77-59, in the other semi-final game. Fitchburg split its season series with MCLA, including a 65-57 home victory over the Trailblazers on Feb. 12.
 
Westfield, 21-5 and the MASCAC regular season champion, had defeated Fitchburg twice during the regular season – 82-55 and an 81-67 home victory last Saturday.
 
The Owls, however, struggled offensively against the tight Falcon man-to-man defense in the tourney semi-finals and only scored four points in the opening 10 minutes.
 
Sparked by Ingram-Rubin’s 17 first-half points, the Falcons led at halftime, 31-22. Ingram-Rubin drained four 3-point baskets in the first half as Fitchburg led 15-4 at the 10:07 mark. The Falcons’ biggest lead in the first half was 13 points, 22-9, following an Ingram-Rubin three-ball at the 5:03 mark.
 
Fitchburg took its biggest lead of 16 points, 40-24, following another Ingram-Rubin 3-pointer with 17:26 remaining. But the Fitchburg sharpshooter was hit with a technical for taunting the large and boisterous crowd following the 3-pointer, and Westfield began mounting a spirited comeback.
 
The Owls’ trademark tenacious full court defense led them to an 18-4 run over the next four minutes to pull within two points, 44-42, following a steal-layup by Jordan Santiago with 13:47 remaining.
 
Fitchburg withstood the fierce comeback, however, and quickly built a 51-42 lead at the 12:15 mark.
 
The Owls maintained their intense pressure and finally tied the score, 59-59, on a Matt Devine 12-foot jumper with 1:49 remaining.
 
Fitchburg then won the possession game in the closing minutes. Falcon 6-8 senior center Zach Valliere received the ball in the paint and scored on a turnaround over Devine for a 61-59 Fitchburg lead with 1:24 remaining.
 
On the Owls’ possession, Devine missed a 12-footer and Henneberry grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made one free throw for a 62-59 score with 54 seconds remaining.
 
Henneberry then came up with a big steal when he stripped the ball from Devine in the low post and passed the ball to Ingram-Rubin for a layup to give the Falcons a 64-59 lead with 34 seconds remaining. Westfield missed two 3-point attempts in the final 20 seconds while Fitchburg was 4 for 6 from the foul line.
 
In a key statistic, Fitchburg was 8 for 19 from 3-point range, including a 6 for 11 effort from Ingram-Rubin. Westfield, meanwhile, was only 2 for 16 from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
Senior Lee Vazquez scored a team-high 22 points to move into fifth place on the Westfield’s all-time scoring list with 1,521 points. But the high-scoring senior guard was hounded the entire game by the Falcon defense and made only 8 of 26 field goal attempts, including 2 of 12 3-pointers.
 
Valliere was Fitchburg’s only other player in double figures with 11 points. The Falcons shot 40 percent from the field, including their 42 percent performance from 3-point land.
 
Westfield forced 19 Fitchburg turnovers. The Owls only had 10 turnovers but they only shot 32 percent from field.
 
Devine had another double-double effort with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-7 senior center from Pembroke also blocked five shots; he is currently ranked second nationally in blocked shots and led the nation in rejections last year.

Sophomore forward Grant Cooper finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and a game-high five steals before fouling out with 2:14 remaining.

Courtesy MCLA Sports Information

MCLA 77, Salem State 59

North Adams, MA- The second seeded MCLA Trailblazers swarmed the third seeded Salem State Vikings in the second half as they pulled away for a convincing 77-59 victory in the semifinals of the MASCAC championships. With the win, the Trailblazers will now host the MASCAC championship game on Saturday.  Salem ends their season at 16-11.

MCLA will host Fitchburg State on Saturday.  The Falcons defeated the top seeded Westfield State Owls 68-61 in Westfield this evening.  The Trailblazers and Falcons split the season series with each team winning on their home court.

John Jones had a game high 23 points to lead MCLA on 8-12 shooting. Paul Maurice was the only other Trailblazer in double figures finishing with 11 points.  The Trailblazers doubled up Salem in the second half (40-20) and held the Vikings to just 7-35 shooting (20%) in the decisive half.

MCLA trailed 39-37 at halftime, but after a few adjustments, clamped down on the visitors. Trailblazer Bilal Shabazz' drive tied the score at 39, but Salem's Bryan Ortiz drilled a three to put the Vikings ahead 42-39 with 18:46 left to play. That's where the Vikings went ice cold. Over the next eleven minutes, Salem could only muster a free throw.  The dry spell allowed MCLA to go on a 18-1 run that changed the course of the game.

A Maurice three started the run and a Jones layup gave MCLA the lead for good at the 17:49 mark.  Another triple from Maurice gave the Trailblazers a five point lead.  Salem meanwhile, couldn't buy a basket.  At one point, they missed 17 consecutive shots as MCLA steadily built their lead until Justin Nieves finally connected in the paint.  By that time, MCLA led
57-45 with under eight to play.

Salem had hope after Hanell Valez drained his second three pointer of the night to pull the Vikings within nine at 57-48, however MCLA would respond with an 8-2 to essentially put the game out of reach.  The Vikings would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way and MCLA actually led by as many as 20 points late in the contest.

Salem State got off to a fast start jumping out to a 12-3 lead just four minutes into the contest.  MCLA would crawl back into the contest behind Jones.  He would score 13 straight points in a 3:30 stretch to pull MCLA within four at 20-16.  After Ruben DelRosario drained a pair at the charity stripe, MCLA trailed by just a pair but the Vikings always had an answer.

SSU's Trey Morin drilled a three from the top of the circle and Hamed Akanni hit one of two at the line to extend the Viking lead back to six at 24-18.  MCLA would trim the deficit to a pair of two occasions, only to see Salem respond. The Trailblazers would finally knot the score with just 2:59 left until halftime when freshman Anthony Barbosa completed a rare four point play, making in 32-32.  MCLA would take their only lead of the half at 36-34 on a Paul Maurice layup, however the Vikings would outscore MCLA 5-1 to close out the half making
it 39-37 in favor of Salem State at halftime.

The Vikings were paced by Tavone Wynder's 11 points.  Velez would finish with  10 points, but only three after halftime.  Salem was hurt by 22 turnovers and only shot 29% for the game (20-67).

The Trailblazers were aided by a strong showing at the free throw line. After only shooting 61% in the regular season, MCLA connected on 23-27 shots from the stripe (85%).  The hosts also overcame a rough start on the glass to hold a slim 41-39 edge in rebounding.