Men's Basketball Falls to Fitchburg State

Fitchburg, Mass. – Junior Zach Valliere (Douglas, Mass.) led the Fitchburg State men's basketball team with a double-double as the Falcons downed Framingham State University, 84-72 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action this afternoon. 

Valliere led the Falcons attack with his double-double, posting 29 points and 17 boards, while shooting 11-of-19 from the field and 7-of-12 from the charity stripe. Classmate Tom Henneberry (Lexington, Mass.) and sophomore Brandon Selby (Baltimore, Md.) chipped in 15 and 13 points respectively, while senior Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass.) added seven points and seven caroms.

For the Rams, freshman Andre Santana (Worcester, Mass.) led the way, totaling a double-double effort of 17 point and 14 boards, while sophomore Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.) added 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Junior guard Rico DePaolis (Watertown, Mass.) rounded out the Framingham State attack with 13 points on the afternoon.

Fitchburg State grabbed a six point advantage at the break led by Valliere's 15 first half points. The Falcons used an opening run of 13-4 to post a nine point advantage at the 13:64 mark, but Framingham State came back strong, stringing together a 9-0 run to knot the score at 13-13 just two minutes later.

Fitchburg State regained its lead moments later using a big offensive push to snag a 12 point lead with 2:51 remaining in the half. The Rams closed the half strong with a 7-0 spurt as a Justin Perron (North Attleboro, Mass.) three brought Framingham State within five (36-31). 

In the second half, the Falcons came out strong again, boasting a 52-39 advantage just 4:14 into the period. Fitchburg State used a 13-6 run to open the half, but the Rams inched closer midway through the period, coming within six, 56-50 after dunk by Santana.

The Falcons responded with a three by Donald Hunt (Winchendon, Mass.) to jump back out to a nine point advantage and continued to coast the rest of the way to earn their second conference victory of the year.

Despite shooting 45.3% for the contest, Framingham State fell victim to 26 turnovers and 25 points in transition, while Fitchburg State only turned the ball over 13 times. 

Fitchburg State (11-9, 2-6 MASCAC) will be back in action on Tuesday as it travels to Worcester State at 6 p.m. Framingham State (8-14, 2-7 MASCAC) will host Salem State on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Release courtesy of FSU Sports Information.