NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The visiting Castleton State men's basketball team used an explosive second half to pull away late from the MCLA Trailblazers and earn a 94-82 win on opening night for both teams.

 

The Spartans were led by Joe Alamprese's team best 19 point night.

 

The Trailblazers led 37-34 at halftime as both sides returned to the court after lenghty layoffs due to the ongoing pandemic. In the second half, MCLA led by as many as seven points and with 9:01 remaining, they led 70-63 after a pair of Tyler Showers free throws. From there, Castleton took over.

 

The Spartans used a 14-2 spurt to seize control and lead 77-72 following Alamprese's pair of free throws. MCLA answered with another bucket from Showers, but Castleton stemmed the tide with back to back triples, one from John Walsh and the other from Alex Blackmore, to take a commanding 83-74 lead with under four minutes remaining.

 

MCLA got within six after a Dylan Morris-Gray 3-pointer but could not get any closer as Castleton extended the margin to double digits and pulled away.  

 

For MCLA, Morris-Gray led all scorers with 22 points. He was 7-15 from the floor in defeat.  Drury graduate Hayden Bird ended with 16 points but did knock down three triples. Drury alum Reece Racette had a nice floor game for MCLA with 11 rebounds, six assists, and three steals.  

 

The Trailblazers were hampered by 20 turnovers on the night and shot 39%.

 

MCLA is off until Tuesday when they travel to Norwich.