Fitchburg State Defeats Framingham State, 84-72

Valliere paves the way for Falcons MASCAC win with 29 point, 17 rebound effort

FITCHBURG, Mass. (February 4, 2012) – Junior Zach Valliere (Douglas, Mass./Douglas) led the Fitchburg State men's basketball team with a double-double as the Falcons downed Framingham State University, 84-72 in MASCAC action this afternoon.

Valliere led the Falcons attack with his double-double, posting 29 points and 17 boards, while shooting 11-of-19 from the field and 7-of-12 from the charity stripe. Classmate Tom Henneberry (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) and sophomore Brandon Selby (Baltimore, Md./Joppatowne) were also strong with 15 point and 13 points respectively, while senior Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) added seven points and seven caroms.

For the Rams, freshman Andre Santana (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) led the way, totaling a double-double effort of 17 point and 14 boards, while sophomore Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass./East Boston)  added 14 points with 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Junior Rico DePaolis (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) rounded out the Framingham State attack with 13 points on the afternoon.

Fitchburg State grabbed a six point advantage at the break led by Valliere's 15 first half points. The Falcons used an opening run of 13-4 to post a nine point advantage at the 13:64 mark, but Framingham State came back strong, stringing together a 9-0 run to knot the score at 13-13 just two minutes later.

Fitchburg State regained its lead moments later using a big offensive push to snag a commanding 12 point lead with 2:51 remaining in the half. The Rams closed the half strong with a 7-0 as a Justin Perron (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) three brought Framingham State within five (36-31).

In the second half,  the Falcons came out strong again, boasting a 52-39 advantage just 4:14 into the period. Fitchburg State used a 13-6 run to open the half, but the Rams inched closer midway through the period, coming within six, 56-50 after dunk by Santana.

The Falcons responded with a three by Donald Hunt (Winchendon, Mass./Murdock) to jump back out to a nine point advantage and continued to coast the rest of the way to earn their second conference victory of the year.

Despite shooting 45.3% for the contest, Framingham State fell victim to 26 turnovers and 25 points in transition, while Fitchburg State only turned the ball over 13 times. The Falcons finished 29-of-27 from the field, hitting on 5-of-26 from downtown and 21-of-32 from the free-throw line.

Fitchburg State (11-9, 2-6 MASCAC) will be back in action on Tuesday as it travels to Worcester State at 6 p.m. Framingham State (8-14, 2-7 MASCAC) will host Salem State on Tuesday at 8 p.m.