Rios Hits 1,000 Point Milestone In 81-73 Road Loss To Fisher

Lynn, MA --- Fisher junior Kyle Holmes (Hamden, CT) came off the bench to produce a game-best 21 points in 18 minutes as the Falcons defeated Worcester State, 81-73, this evening at the Facteau-Leary Gymnasium in non-league men's basketball action. 

Other standouts for Fisher (12-4) included senior OJ Moore (Houston, TX) who tallied 13 points with six rebounds and junior Tyler Shular (Norwalk, CT) added 11.

Sophomore Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) notched his sixth double-double of the campaign with 18 points, 13 boards and a campaign-best six blocks. Senior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) finished with 16 points and five helpers while sophomore Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) notched 12 points in 20 minutes as a reserve.

Senior Charles Gunter (Boston, MA/New Mission) also chipped in with eight points on free throws, seven caroms and two helpers.

In the loss, Rios became the 25th Lancer to register his 1,000 points in his career as 436 points came in two seasons at St Joseph's (Vermont) and 411 in last year's campaign for the Blue and Gold.

Worcester State (3-10) originally staked the early 9-2 advantage and led 16-11 with 11:24 remaining in the opening frame.

Keyed on a traditional three-point play by sophomore Brandon Robinson (Fort Washington, MD), the Falcons used a 16-1 spurt to open up a commanding 27-10 margin. Holmes scored eight of his points in the run on free throws and he finished off the rally with a jumper as 7:04 read on the clock.

The hosts maintained their lead and settled for the 40-31 score at the intermission.

Worcester State sliced into the deficit and trailed 49-43 at the 15:33 mark, but Fisher utilized another strong skein to take over a 59-45 contest with 11:17 left in regulation. Holmes again was the spark plug with seven points in a 12-4 stretch.

With the Falcons up 68-52 and 5:31 remaining, the Lancers used one final push to get back into the contest.

The Blue and Gold outscored their opponents 16-6 over the next three minutes to narrow the gap to 74-68 on a triple by sophomore Isaiah Tatum (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) and three consecutive lay-ups by Brooks.

After two buckets at the line by McKreith-Collins which made it a five point game at the 1:18 mark (75-70), Moore answered for the hosts and canned two of his own at the stripe before Holmes came up with the clutch old-fashioned three-point play to put the hosts up by double-digits in the waning moments to seal up the victory.

Oddly enough, both squads rang in the exact same number of shots from the field for a 43 percent effort from the floor (23-for-53). The difference, however, came down to free throws and at the three point arc.

WSU struggled at the free throw line while only hitting 59 percent of their attempts (24-for-41) as the hosts only missed 10 freebees (29-for-39). The visitors also canned just three of their 14 bids from three point land and Fisher connected for seven of their 16 long-range tries.

The Lancers held margins on the backboards (38-35), in the paint (30-18) and used 15 offensive rebounds to hold a 15-9 edge in second chance baskets.

Fisher used 12 swipes to force 18 miscues which were turned into 21 points for a quarter of the total output for the hosts.

Worcester State opens MASCAC play on Saturday in a 3 PM road matchup against MCLA. Fisher entertains Lesley on Thursday at 7 PM in another non-league affair in Lynn.