(North Adams, Mass.) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team fell just short of their first victory as they dropped a 78-76 non-conference decision at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts tonight in Western Massachusetts. The heartbreaking loss sends the Raiders to 0-8 to start the season while the Trailblazers improve to 3-5.
Junior Angel Perez (Miami, Fla.) and freshman Tarik Rivers (Stamford, Conn.) each paced the offensive attack with 16 points each while sophomore Joshua L'Heureux (Dracut, Mass.) netted 12 points. Freshman Tyler Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) totaled 11 points and six rebounds on the night with classmate Kirk Palladino (Milford, N.H.) chipped in with 11 points off the bench.
MCLA was guided by a 20 point reserve effort from Hayden Bird and dual 16 point nights from Antoine Montgomery & Ki-Shawn Monroe. Bird shot 8-for-14 off the bench while also collecting six rebounds. Montgomery was the leader with seven rebounds.
Rivier will return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Standish, Maine for a date with Saint Joseph's College (Me.).
