Nichols Slips Past Fitchburg State, 84-81

Valliere and Ingram-Rubin lead Falcons with a 45 point combined effort

FITCHBURG, Mass. (November 26, 2012) – The Fitchburg State men's basketball team fell just short this evening as the Falcons suffered an 84-81 setback to the visiting Bison of Nichols College at the Fitchburg State Recreation Center.

Junior Ryan Sheehan (N. Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) led the way for the Bison, totaling a team-best 23 points with 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 shooting from long range. Four other Bison notched double figures as Matt Langadas (Casco, Maine/Lake Region) collected 13 points and both Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H./Salem) and Jessy Michaud (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy) chipped in with 11 apiece.

Senior Zach Valliere (Douglas, Mass./Douglas) finished as the leading scorer for Fitchburg State, totaling 25 points with 10-of-18 shooting from the floor, while junior Mike Ingram-Rubin (Boston, Mass./Bedford) added 20 points, eight steals and five assists. Senior Tom Henneberry (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) finished strong for the Falcons with seven points, a team-best 13 rebounds and six assists.

Despite falling behind, 14-5 early in the first half, Fitchburg State battled back throughout the frame, closing with a 12-1 run to post a 41-35 advantage at the break. Valliere boosted the Falcons with a 12 point effort on 6-of-9 shooting, while Ingram-Rubin added ten points and six steals throughout the period. Sheehan and Langadas led the Bison with eight points apiece.

In the second half, Nichols opened the stanza strong, rifling off a 14-9 run to trail by only one (50-49) just five minutes into the period. Gallant and Justin Kuntz (Wallingford, Conn./Sheehan) sparked the Bison rally with a pair of buckets, while Sheehan connected from beyond the arc to open the half.

Fitchburg State maintained its lead until the 11:55 mark as Kuntz lay-up sent the Bison up by one, 56-55. Several lead changes followed with neither team grabbing more than a two point advantage, but Nichols broke the contest open down the stretch, stringing together nine straight points for a 79-69 margin with just under four minutes remaining.

The Falcons closed the gap to only three with just over a minute left to play behind a pair of free-throws from Brandon Selby (Baltimore, Md./Joppatowne) and a lay-up from Valliere, but bucket from Sheehan and free-throw from Sam Horning (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) kept the game just out of reach for Fitchburg State.

For the contest, Fitchburg State shot just 33.3% from the field, while Nichols shot 48.4%, including 60.7% (17-of-28) in the second half. Fitchburg State dominated the glass with a 57-40 margin, but just 20.7% shooting from beyond the arc hinder the Falcons chances at their fourth straight victory.

Fitchburg State (3-0, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action on Thursday night as it travels to Becker College at 7 p.m. Nichols (2-0, 0-0 TCCC) will visit Curry College on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.t24s03