Men’s Basketball Downed at MCLA; 75-58
North Adams, MA- MCLA junior Dakari Hannah Wornum collected a team best 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds as he led the Trailblazers past the Framingham State Rams 75-58 tonight in MASCAC men's basketball action. With the win, the Trailblazers improve to 6-16 and 2-8 in conference play. The Rams drop to 4-18 and are 1-9 in the MASCAC.
The Trailblazers led 44-28 at halftime after Careem Kirksey canned a three in the closing seconds of the half. MCLA however, wouldn't score over the first 3:46 of the second half allowing the Rams to show signs of life. The Rams trimmed the score to 44-33 and after MCLA's Collin Parrott sank a free throw, FSU's Tim Mangano (Winchester,Mass.) knocked down a jumper making it 45-35 in favor of MCLA with still 15:52 left to play.
The Rams would eventually get within nine points at 52-43 with 12:11 left to play, however MCLA responded with five straight points culminated by a Hannah Wornum put-back which pushed the margin back to 14 points. The visitors would get three straight points from Tony Alexandre (Hyde Park, Mass.) to pull back within eleven points at 57-46, however Khalil Paul and the Trailblazers once again responded.
Paul ignited a 10-2 spurt by drilling back to back three's and a finished it off with a pair from the line giving MCLA an insurmountable 67-48 advantage with just 4:00 left on the clock. The Rams would get no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
MCLA controlled the opening half of play and they led 33:24 with 3:53 left until halftime before using a 11-4 run to close the half and lead 44-28. Careem Kirksey scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening half including a pair of three pointers.
Hannah Wornum went 6-8 from the field and scored 13 of his 16 after halftime. Half of his rebounds were on the offensive glass. Paul ended with 11 points for the Trailblazers shot a solid 46% from the floor, which included a blistering 56% showing in the first half of play. Ki-Shawn Monroe had a nice floor game dishing out 5 assists.
The Rams were paced by Alexandre's double-double effort of 22 points and 14 rebounds. He was 10-19 from the floor in defeat. Mangano was the only other Ram in double figures ending with 12 points. Framingham was just 2-17 from three-point range and shot just 38 percent from the floor. They also committed 22 turnovers.
The Trailblazers will look to keep things going when they travel to Fitchburg State on Saturday afternoon. The Rams will travel the MIT for a non-conference matchup on Friday, February 12th at 7 p.m.
*Release courtesy of MCLA sports information