Fitchburg State Rolls Over First-Place Salem State, 96-77

FITCHBURG, Mass. - The Fitchburg State men's basketball team avenged a January 23^rd loss at first-place Salem State, rolling over the Vikings by the final score of 96-77 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Parkinson Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

With the win, Fitchburg State has moved into sole possession of second place in the MASCAC standings with just one more league contest to be played.

Junior guard Jaleel Bell erupted for a game-high 30 points going 12-of-18 from the floor during victory with senior wing Givaughn Jones picking up 16 and Josh Bosworth chipping in for nine points off the bench.

For Salem State, big men Drew Healy and Marcus Faison combined for 24 points and 13 rebounds, with Shyheim David contributing a bench-high 11 points in the setback.

Play opened with the Falcons controlling the opening tip-off when Bell delivered the first of two consecutive three-pointers for Fitchburg State following a Viking turnover to give the hosts an early 6-2 advantage.

Following a lay-up by sophomore center Healy, his second of the contest, the Green and Gold started on a 9-2 scoring run pushing the initial lead to nine points with 15:41 left in the half.

Over the next five minutes the teams would exchange buckets with the visitors getting the best of an 8-6 run with five points coming from freshman guard Shaquan Murray to reduce the gap to seven points (21-14).

Following a Salem State timeout and the Vikings down 10 with 7:23 remaining, the Falcons upped their margin, edging the Vikings during an 11-9 run over a five-minute span with junior guard Bosworth dropping six for the home team.

In the final 2:46 of the half, the Green and Gold pushed their lead to a first-half high of 15 following seven points from Bell, giving him 18 before the break and the comfortable lead over Salem State, 34-19.

The Falcons were able to pick up right where they left following the break, rattling off four quick points before Healy scored the first two of the half for the Vikings off a lay-up inside the paint.

Fitchburg State then responded, quickly breaking off an 8-2 scoring run with seniors Lee and Jones each scoring two points apiece before the Vikings were forced to call a time out, trailing by 20 (60-40).

But Fitchburg State stood in attack mode throughout the contest.

Following the Salem timeout, the hosts went on a 24-14 scoring run highlighted by points from six different players to give them their largest lead of the contest (28 points) with 5:27 to go.

Salem State began to chip away at the gap late in the second half as a 10-2 run reduced deficit to 18 points before sophomore guard Christian Dunston came off the bench to knock down consecutive three-pointers giving the Falcons the decisive 96-77 victory over the Vikings on Senior Night.  

Throughout the contest Fitchburg State shot 35-of-60 (58.3%) from the floor while knocking down 7-of-14 (50.0%) from three-point range and 19-of-25 (76.0%) from the charity stripe. Salem State finished the game 26-of-54 (48.1%), hitting 5-of-18 (27.8%) from beyond the arc while going 20-of-25 (80.0%) from the free-throw line.

The Vikings controlled the rebounding battle, 36-25, grabbing 18 boards on each end of the court while Fitchburg State forced 25 turnovers, coming up with 14 steals, and converting 32 points off Salem State mishaps.

Fitchburg State (15-9, 8-3 MASCAC) will travel to Framingham State this Saturday for its final game of the regular season with action starting at 3 P.M. A win over the Rams would clinch the #2 seed and a first-round bye in next week's MASCAC Tournament.

Release courtesy of Fitchburg State student journalist Kyle Prudhomme