#5 Fitchburg State Defeats #2 MCLA, 80-72

Falcons claims first MASCAC Championship en route to NCAA playoff berth

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. (February 23, 2013) - The fifth-seeded Fitchburg State Falcons used a powerful second half surge and held off the second-seeded MCLA Trailblazers, 80-72 in the 2012-13 MASCAC men's basketball championship game.

With the win, the Falcons will receive the conference's automatic bid into the Division III NCAA tournament when seeding is announced following selection Sunday. The Falcons won three straight road games against higher seeds en route to the MASCAC tournament championship, which is the first for the Falcons men's basketball program under head coach Derek Shell.

The Falcons were paced by junior Mike Ingram-Rubin's (Boston, Mass./Bedford) game high 25 points on an impressive 7-of-8 shooting night.  For his efforts, he was named the tournament's MVP.

MCLA led by eight at halftime, but Fitchburg State quickly jumped right back in the contest. The Falcons the opening five points of the closing half to pull within three points, but MCLA immediately responded with a quick 6-1 burst to match its largest lead at 41-33 with 17:23 to play.  That was where the Falcons really asserted themselves and took command.

The Falcons used an explosive 20-5 run over the next seven minutes to grab a 53-46 lead.  In the middle of the run, senior center Zach Valliere's (Douglas, Mass./Douglas) dunk tied the score at 46-46 before Tom Henneberry's (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) back-to-back jumpers and  Ingram-Rubin's three capped the rally in transition. The trio accounted for 18 of the Falcons 20 points in the spurt.

Fitchburg State continued the assault and jumped out to its largest lead of the night at 65-54 on a Brandon Selby (Baltimore, Md./Joppatowne) layup with just 6:29 left.  The run forced MCLA to defend full court hoping to switch momentum.  MCLA went on a 9-2 spurt to close within four at 67-63 with 4:45 remaining, but Fitchburg State pushed back out to an eight point lead again at 72-64 on a Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) bucket.

MCLA made one last run, scoring six straight points to trim its deficit to just two (72-70), but Fitchburg State outscored the Trailblazers, 8-2 in the 8-2 in the closing 1:52 to grab the victory.  The Falcons were aided by a solid six of eight showing at the line in the closing minute.  MCLA on the other hand went 0-11 from the field in that final stretch.

Ingram-Rubin finished off an impressive week adding, three assists and four rebounds in his MVP performance, while Henneberry finished with 16 points, including 14 after halftime.  Valliere ended his night a rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine caroms, while also adding six blocks.

MCLA was paced by Jones' team high 16 points.  He pulled down six boards and added five assists, while Suggs chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.