Trailblazers Top Owls, 79-64

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The MCLA Trailblazers defeated Westfield State, 79-64, at the Woodward Center on Monday, Jan. 17.

The loss drops the Owls to 12-4 overall and 2-2 in the MASCAC. MCLA gets back to even on the year (6-6) and 1-0 in conference.

Noah Yearsley (Averill Park, NY/ Averill Park) paced the Trailblazers with 26 points and 10 rebounds. He also chipped in three assists, two steals and blocked two shots. Hayden Bird (North Adams, MA/ Drury) added five three-pointers in the win to finish with 16 points and JoJo Garcia (Henderson, NV/ Foothill) finished with 15 points off the bench, making four of six three-point attempts.

MCLA came out of the gates strong, staking a quick seven-point lead four minutes into the game after Yearsley and Garcia each drained threes. The Trailblazers led for the duration of the contest.

The Owls trimmed the lead to seven halfway through the second half on a Brendon Hamilton (Worcester, Mass./ Worcester Technical) layup but Bird responded immediately with a three to put the advantage back to double-digits and the Owls would get no closer.

Kumar Brown (Enfield, Conn./ Enfield) led the Owls with 17 points in the setback. Hamilton grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

MCLA shot a blistering 46% from beyond the arc and held the Owls to a modest 35% from the field.

Both teams will host conference games on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m., the Owls take on Bridgewater State and MCLA faces off with Salem State.