#5 Fitchburg State Holds Off #4 Bridgewater State, 63-60

Falcons advance to MASCAC semifinals led by Valliere's double-double effort

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (February 19, 2013) – Fifth-seeded Fitchburg State University used a 17 point, 14 rebound effort from senior Zach Valliere (Douglas, Mass./Douglas) as the Falcons held off fourth-seeded Bridgewater State University, 63-60 in quarterfinal round action of the 2012-13 MASCAC men's basketball tournament.

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 14-10 on the season and advanced to MASCAC semifinals hosted by top-seed Westfield State University, Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Bears conclude their season with an overall record of 11-4 and a 5-7 mark in the MASCAC.

Valliere also added four blocked shots and finished 7-for-11 from the floor, while senior forward Tom Henneberry (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) also posted a double-double for the Falcons with 14 points and 11 boards. Classmate Brandon Selby (Baltimore, Md./Joppatowne) chipped in with 12 points.

BSU sophomore forward Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) paced the hosts with a game-high 20 points to go along with 13 rebounds (four offensive) as he recorded his team-leading 12th double-double of the season.  Senior forward Anthony Fortes (Providence, R.I.) added 12 points, four boards and three steals for the Bears, while senior guard Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) finished with ten points, five assists and three steals.

The game was tightly contested throughout with neither team leading by more than six points.  Surprisingly, there were only three ties and four lead changes in the contest.  It would come down to the final minute of play after a Lofton layup with 1:03 left on the clock pulled the Bears to within one at 59-58.  Coming out of a timeout, Fitchburg State used up most of the play clock and Valliere was fouled with 28 seconds remaining. He promptly buried both free throws to push the Falcons' lead back to three (61-58).

The Bears responded with a pair of free throws at the other end of the floor to make it a one-point game again at 61-60 with 15 seconds left.  Bridgewater fouled quickly but Fitchburg junior guard Mike Ingram-Rubin (Boston, Mass./Bedford) calmly sank both shots from the charity stripe to give the Falcons the 63-60 advantage.  The Bears had two off-balance three-point attempts in the final seconds by Yard and Lofton but neither could find the mark and Fitchburg escaped with the win.

The Falcons shot 45.5% (25-55) from the floor but were just 3-for-12 from three-point range. Selby, however, connected on a big trifecta with six minutes remaining which at the time gave the visitors a six-point lead (53-47).  The Bears struggle with their shooting, converting just 34.8% (23-66) of their field goal attempts and finishing 2-for-13 (15.4%) from behind the arc.