Falcons Take Down Clark, 77-70

Worcester, Mass. – Visiting Fitchburg State outscored Clark University 49-38 in the second half and the upstart Falcons improved to 3-0 with a hard-fought 77-70 win over the Cougars in non-league men's basketball action on Tuesday evening at the Kneller Athletic Center.

The win for the Fitchburg State gives them more wins already in 2014-15 than they had in all of 2013-14 – the first season of the Titus Manderson era. It also marks the third time in the last four years that the Falcons have started the season with at least three straight wins – most notably in 2012-13 when the won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) tournament and advanced to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

Clark (0-1), meanwhile, spoiled a monster performance from sophomore David Mercier, who proved to be the Cougars most effective player, totaling career-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds on 9–for-14 shooting.

The Cougars held a 32-28 lead at the break despite a frigid 1-for-12 performance from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. When Mercier opened the second half with a fast break finish off of a Lucas LaLima feed, the Cougars were ahead by six.

Things changed quickly, however as the Falcons tied the game at 39-39 on a Givaughn Jones steal and easy layup.

Over the next few minutes the lead changed hands a few times and Conor Dow came off the Clark bench to bury three three-pointers in a four minute span – his final triple giving the Scarlet and White a 49-46 advantage.

Mercier put the Cougars ahead later when he drained a three of his own, making the score 54-51 but as they did all evening the Falcons had an answer. Keyon Armstrong (Brockton, Mass.) connected on a long three-pointer to tie the game for the ninth time at 54-54 and when Jalen Williams (Meriden, Conn.) made both of his free throw attempts moments later, Fitchburg State went ahead for good.

After An Andrew Musler (Belmont, Mass.) top-of-the-key three-pointer dropped through the nets with a little more than seven minutes left to play, Clark trailed just 58-57.

The Falcons clamped down defensively and allowed just two more baskets – a Mercier inside layup off of a missed shot and Nick DaPrato triple with 30 seconds left – for the rest of the game.

Clark got as close as four following a pair of LaLima free throws, but Fitchburg went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes to seal the win.

FSU shot 46 percent from the field for the game but a sizzling 57 percent (16-for-28) in the final 20 minutes, while holding the Cougars to just 39 percent (24-for-62).

The Cougars, meanwhile, took more than half of their shots from behind the three-point line but connected on just 25 percent of their attempts (8-for-32).

Armstrong led the way for the Green and Gold with 22 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while Kwame Lee finished with 12 points and ten rebounds. Williams, meanwhile, scored 14 points to lead a bench attack for Fitchburg State that outscored the Clark reserves 29-14.

In addition to Mercier's stellar outing, DaPrato added 18 points and four boards, while Joe Atkinson finished with seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists.

Musler, who was saddled with foul trouble for most of the night, ended with nine points and eight boards.

FSU will travel north for its next opponents, taking part in the Rivier Kickoff Tournament on Friday where they will meet Colby-Sawyer.