Northern Essex Steals Game From Massasoit, 76-72

BROCKTON, Mass. ---- The Massasoit men's basketball team received a team-high 21 points from Anthony Rivers (Boston/John O'Bryant Tech), but saw a double-digit second-half lead disappear as Northern Essex CC stole a 76-72 victory from the Warriors on Monday night.

Massasoit held a 70-67 lead with a minute to go, and led by as many as 14 after halftime, but Northern Essex's Parker Rogers drained a 3-pointer to tie the game. Preston Morency made a go-ahead bucket to give the Knights the lead for good and NECC would make four foul shots in the final 30 seconds to seal the come-from-behind win.

Anthony Rivers finished with 21 points for the Warriors on 7-of-12 shooting and added five assists.

Next in the scoring department was Chris Green (Taunton/Bridgton Academy) with 17 points and five assists. Moses Lynn (Quincy) produced in the post, netting 14 points and grabbing six rebounds in the loss.

Massasoit will have to wait and see if it will qualify for the Massachusetts Community College Athletic Conference Tournament, hosted by Springfield Tech next weekend. The Warriors end the regular season with an overall record of 12-10 and 4-4 in MCCAC games.

The Warriors are fighting with Northern Essex, MassBay and Roxbury for the final two spots in the state tournament. Springfield Tech and Bristol have already claimed the top two seeds.