Falcons Fall To Corsairs, 93-63 At UMass Dartmouth Tip-Off Tournament Final

Dartmouth, Mass. – The Fitchburg State Men's Basketball team dropped a 93-63 decision to the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth this afternoon in the championship game of the 2021 UMass Dartmouth Tip-Off Tournament

 The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 63, UMass Dartmouth 93

Fitchburg State (1-1, 0-0 MASCAC) I UMass Dartmouth 2-0, 0-0 LEC)

How It Happened

1st half

UMass Dartmouth opened the contest with a 9-0 run on a three-pointer from graduate Jake Ashworth (Fairhaven, Mass.) and layups by senior Adam Seablom (Lakeville, Mass.), classmate Sean Leahy (Hanson, Mass.) and junior Jackson Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.). Fitchburg Sate cut the lead to 19-7 as sophomore Kerns Monvilus (Coral Springs, Fla.) collected a dunk before junior Darian Norwood (San Diego, Calif.) added a pair of buckets.

The Falcons continued to chip away at the lead with junior Jalen Morgan (Lawrenceville, Ga.) notching a jumper and a three ball (19-14), but the Corsairs extended its margin with Seablom and Ashworth knocking down baskets for the 29-21 advantage.

The Green and Gold countered with a Monvilus free throw and a jumper from sophomore Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.) to make the score 32-23 before UMass Dartmouth took a 50-26 margin into the break as senior Marcus Azor (Brockton, Mass.) connected on a dunk.

2nd Half

Following the intermission, UMass Dartmouth upped its lead (61-26) on buckets from Zancan, Ashworth and Seablom. Fitchburg State responded with a pair of layups by senior Dominik Williams (Newark, N.J.) and Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.) basket to make the score 67-32.

Trailing 78-36, the Falcons got a layup from J. Taylor and a three-pointer by junior Mikal Garcia (Fresno, Tex.) to trim the deficit to 78-41, but sophomore Isaac Percy (Pittsfield, Mass.) hit a free throw to put the hosts up 82-43.

Fitchburg State answered back as Garcia and Norwood hit layups before the Corsairs secured the victory on a Zancan layup, resulting in the 93-63 final.Inside the Numbers

• Falcons were paced by Norwood with a team-best eight points, three rebounds and one block
• Williams added eight points, six caroms, one assist and one steal for the Green and Gold
• For the Corsairs, Azor led the way with a game-leading 16 points, eight rebounds, ten assists, four steals and two blocks
• Seablom chipped in with 15 points, two boards, four assists and two steals.
• 24th meeting between Fitchburg State and UMass Dartmouth on the court with the Falcons 5-19 all-time vs. the Corsairs
• Fitchburg State shot 25-for-60 (41.7%) from the field and (4-of-16) 25.0% from three point range
• UMass Dartmouth finished 37-of-81 (45.7%) overall and (11-for-30) 36.7% for beyond the arc
• Corsairs held a 44-36 margin in rebounds

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Clark University to take on the Cougars for a non-conference tilt, starting at 7:00 PM. Corsairs will visit Bridgewater State on Tuesday in non-conference action at 7:00 PM.