Men's Basketball Prevails 91-87 in Overtime Over Fitchburg State

Worcester, MA --- Sophomore Robert Hunter (St. Louis, MI) poured in a career-best 36 points as he finished with 11 boards and four steals to help lead Worcester State to a 91-87 overtime triumph over Fitchburg State in men's MASCAC basketball action this evening at the Lancer Gymnasium.

The Lancers (8-15, 5-5 MASCAC) would erase as many as a 14 point deficit with 12:59 remaining and the Falcons (11-10, 2-7 MASCAC) also led 63-50 at the midway point.

Paced by the hot shooting of junior Kyle Ferreira (Westport, MA) – who jacked three trey's – and eight points in the paint by Hunter the Blue and Gold would string together a 19-6 run to knot the score 69-69 with 3:51 left in regulation.

Junior Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) made it a four-point game with back-to-back lay-ups (73-69) before Fitchburg State scored five straight, which included a trifecta by sophomore Mike Ingram-Rubin (Boston, MA/Bedford), visitors took over the 75-73 edge with 2:06 remaining.

Hunter would then help the hosts respond with a pair of free throws and a field goal for the two-point lead (77-75), but the Falcons seized the advantage on a missed free throw as senior Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, MA) equaled the score 77-77 with 50 ticks remaining.

With the Lancers in possession of the ball, senior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) would nail a three-pointer as time expired on the shot clock to help put his team on top with 14 seconds left, but the 80-77 advantage would be short lived. Ingram-Rubin would answer the call with a nifty move off the dribble to fool his defender and force the extra session with a buzzer-beating trey from beyond NBA range.

In overtime, the score would be tied twice before Stephenson gave WSU the two-point cushion with 1:14 remaining. After junior Zach Valliere (Douglas, MA) registered a traditional three-point play off of a slam-dunk, Hunter would give the Blue and Gold the 88-87 lead for good on a fast-break lay-up.

Fitchburg State had two opportunities to counter – including a quick Ingram-Rubin three-pointer with six seconds remaining, but the Lancers would prevail by making three of their last four from the charity stripe to seal up the win to move into fourth-place in the conference standings.

Worcester State led by as many as eight on two occasions at the half-way point of the first period before the Falcons used a 10-2 spurt to tie the score up 26-26 with 6:47 remaining.

With the 28-28 stalemate near the five-minute mark, FSU would outscore their hosts 11-4 for the eight-point advantage with 48 seconds left, but Ferreira and Stephenson would combine for four points to help the Lancers trail 39-36 at the intermission.

Coming out of the locker room, the Falcons would erupt with a 21-10 skein over the first eight minutes of the frame as they would connect for six of their first eight shots from the field and hit all four of their attempts from the free throw line for the 60-46 lead at the 12:59 mark to set the stage for the Lancers to make their comeback.

Goodwin notched his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds while he also rejected a trio of shots. Ferreira had a great all-around contest with 13 points, six boards and five assists and Stephenson was consistent with 17 points, three steals and a trio of helpers.

With his 15th double-double in 23 games this season, Hunter did his damage on a 16-for-28 performance from the field as he would sink 11 of his last 14 shots.

Valliere paced the Falcons with a team-high 23 points with nine caroms and three blocks while junior Brandon Sebly (Baltimore, MD) added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Ingram-Rubin netted 19 points with six swipes and four boards as Kimber finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Junior Tom Henneberry (Lexington, MA) put up solid numbers off the bench with seven points, a game-best eight assists and five rebounds.

The Lancers dominated the paint as they would hold a 58-36 edge in the category along with advantages in total rebounds (49-42), offensive boards (22-18) and second chance points (24-12) as both teams were even in points off turnovers (17-17).

WSU also made the Falcons pay for their miscues as the visitors would cough up the ball 18 times via 13 steals. The hosts shot 45 percent for the game (36-for-80), but only canned 14 of their 22 attempts from the charity stripe (64 percent).

Fitchburg State used a strong transition game to score nearly a third of their points (30-17) off the fast-break. They also were in sync and lined-up 40 percent of their shots in the field (29-for-73) while only missing six free throws for the game (21-for-27 – 78 percent). FSU only hit only eight of their 25 tries from beyond the arc.

Both teams will return to MASCAC action and face Bridgewater State and Salem State on Saturday who are both tied atop the league standings for first-place. Worcester State plays the Bears at 5 PM while the Falcons host the Vikings in a 3:30 affair.