Fitchburg State Falls To New England College, 97-84

Imadiyi and Muccioli net 15 points apiece in Falcons non-conference loss

FITCHBURG, Mass. (December 3, 2013) – The Fitchburg State men's basketball team visited the Pilgrims of New England College this evening, falling 97-84 on the road.

New England College guard Dezron Wilson (Hartford, Conn.) finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Pilgrims to their third victory of the season, while NEC's Robin Wilson (Biddeford, Maine) chipped in 20 points and pulled down six rebounds. Malachi Davis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was also solid, finish with 17 points and Jonathan Byrnes (Bethel, Conn.) ripped down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Leading the way for Fitchburg was Josh Imadiyi (Lynn, Mass.) who finished with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.  Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in 15 points, while Lincoln Wright (Brockton, Mass.) was the only other Falcon in double-figures finishing with 13 points.

The two teams would battle closely through the opening minutes of play before the Pilgrims used a 13-4 run to grab their largest lead of the half, up 11 with 7:21 remaining.  The Falcons clawed their way back, cutting the lead just six late but NEC's Ryan Schmitz (Reading, Calif.) drained two foul shots in the final second giving the Pilgrims the 43-35 halftime lead. 

In the second half, NEC opened up a 22 point lead but Fitchburg State responded again a 15-6 run to get within 12 with 4:25 left in regulation. The Pilgrims would eventually hold off the Falcon surge however, finishing the second half shooting an impressive 71% from the field en route to the eventual 97-84 victory. 

Fitchburg State (0-5, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action on Thursday as it hosts Mount Ida at 7 p.m. New England College (3-3, 0-0 NAC) will travel to Castleton State on Saturday afternoon.