WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Ian Brink scored 17 points, and Emmett Sheppard hit a key 3-pointer late to lad the Mount Greylock boys basketball team past Lee, 61-41, as the Mounties qualified for the Western Mass tournament on Tuesday night.

 

Mount Greylock (10-5) took a 19-10 lead in the first quarter thanks to six each points from Michael McCormack and Jake Benzinger, who finished with 10 and 11 for the game.

 

Lee (3-12) settled down from there and stayed alive thanks to a game-high 20 from Sam Kelly and 14 from Matt Reynolds.

 

Early in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats caught a break when Mount Greylock saved a ball on the baseline under Lee's basket, and Noah Johnson was all alone under the basket for an easy bucket to cut the deficit to six, 46-40.

 

But two possessions later, Mount Greylock's Eric Hirsch hit Sheppard with a skip pass, and Sheppard knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing to spark an 8-0 run that ended with a conventional three-point play by Brink with 2 minutes, 13 seconds on the clock to make it 54-40.

 

Mount Greylock, which has won three of its last four, will look to improve its tournament seeding on Friday night when it travels to Taconic.

 

Lee hosts Mount Everett on Wednesday.