Men's Basketball Bounced From MASCAC Tournament By Fitchburg State In OT

Fitchburg, MA --- Fitchburg State junior Kwame Lee (Brockton, MA) compiled 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to help propel the third-seeded Falcons to a 74-63 win over #6 Worcester State in the opening round of the MASCAC Tournament this evening at the FSU Recreation Center.

With the victory, Fitchburg State (15-11) moves on to play second-seeded Bridgewater State at 7:30 on Thursday. The Lancers end their campaign at 6-20.

Junior Keyon Armstrong (Brockton, MA) also paced the hosts with 18 points, six boards, five assists and five steals while classmate Givaugh Jones (Dorchester, MA) and junior Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, NH) tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Senior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) registered a game-best 20 points while senior Charles Gunter (Boston, MA/New Mission) and sophomore Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) both put up double-doubles. Gunter recorded 15 points with 11 boards while Brooks finished with 12 points, 12 caroms and three blocks.

Sophomore Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) also netted 13 points with five helpers for WSU.

Worcester State held the lead most of the way as the Lancers equaled their largest advantage at 47-40 on the back of a three-pointer by Rios with 6:27 left in regulation.

But a pair of lay-ups by sophomore Leonny Burgos (Lawrence, MA) sandwiched a trey by Lee, helped the Falcons tie up the score before Armstrong converted the front end of a two-shot foul for the 48-47 margin at the 4:33 mark.

After Rios connected on a triple to put his club back up by four, Jones and Armstrong helped the hosts storm back by sinking four consecutive free throws to knot things up for the fifth time in the contest at 52-52.

Following a Falcon miscue and subsequent foul, Rios drained one of his two tries at the charity stripe with 43 seconds remaining. Fitchburg State then missed two shots on their next series and Rios sank a driving lay-up with seven ticks on the clock for the 55-52 score which kept it a one possession game.

With time winding down, Lee forced the extra session with a game-tying trifecta on the right elbow as 0.04 seconds left on the clock.

It was close early in overtime, but the hosts utilized a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Lee was the catalyst as he hit a jumper and another three before Muccioli and Jones converted four buckets at the line to take over the 68-59 edge with 43 moments left.

Burgos dropped in two more points in the paint and the Falcons hit their last four tries at the charity stripe to put the finishing touches on the victory.

Fitchburg State shot a blistering 45 percent for the contest (23-for-51) and got to the line 34 times, but missed nine free-bees (68 percent – 23-for-34).

Worcester State struggled throughout the contest from the floor ending the game with a 33 percent effort (24-for-72) and a 25 percent clip from beyond the arc (7-for-27). The Blue and Gold though hit eight of their 11 tries at the charity stripe.

Rebounding was even (43-43), however, the Lancers doubled up their opponents 16-8 and held the 10-2 margin in second-chance baskets. Fitchburg State had the lead in points off of turnovers (17-6), bench scoring (15-13) and outscored their opponents 19-8 in overtime.