Keene State Stops Fitchburg State, 91-79

Ingram-Rubin and Dixon combine for 54 points in Falcons setback

KEENE, N.H. (January 16, 2014) – The Fitchburg State men's basketball team traveled to Keene State College on Thursday evening and suffered a 91-79 setback to the Owls in non-conference action.

Junior Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn.)  led the Owls, scoring a career-high 28 points , while freshman Jeff Lunn (Nashua, N.H.) came off the bench to score a season high 16 points. Keene State overcame an impressive shooting performance by Falcon senior guard Mike Ingram-Rubin, (Boston, Mass.) who finished with a game high 33 points.

Putting together two straight wins for the second time this season, the Owls improve to 5-8, while  Fitchburg State falls to 1-12.

Doyle didn't waste any time making his presence felt in the game. He scored 13 of the Owls' first 19 points, giving KSC an early 19-11 lead with a fast-break lay-up at the 12:11 mark. 

Fitchburg State gradually cut into the Owls' lead as Ingram-Rubin went to work.  He had 22 of the Falcons' first 30 points, including a three-pointer that cut the lead to 34-30 with 1:44 to play in the half. In a first half dual, Doyle scored 17 points while Ingram-Rubin, who knocked down five three-pointers, countered with 24 points as KSC had to settle for a 39-35 halftime lead.  

After the Falcons got the lead down to two points (39-37), the Owls then began to pull away.  Sophomore Nate Howard (Cheshire, Conn.), who notched his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 15 rebounds as well as four blocks,  scored a couple of inside hoops and freshmen Lucas Hamel (Methuen, Mass.) and Lunn hit  put-back shots, giving the Owls a 53-42 lead at the 15:24 mark.

The game turned into a track met with both teams racing up-and-down the floor.  A top-of-the-key jumper by freshman Jaquel Edwards (Manchester, Conn.) gave the Owls a 65-49 lead midway in the second half. 

The Falcons made things interesting, cutting the lead to eight points (87-79) on a lay-up by sophomore Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, N.H.) with 1:11 on the clock, but freshman Matt Ozzella (Medway, Mass.) hit a couple of free throws in the closing seconds helping KSC hang on for the win.

Junior Malcolm Dixon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 21 points and senior Mo Molin (Brockton, Mass.) pulled down a team high nine rebounds. For the game, Keene State shot 37-86 (43%) from the field, but hit just three of it 19 shots from behind the arc (16%). 

Fitchburg State will be back in action on Tuesday as it visits Bridgewater State at 7:30 p.m.