Men's Basketball Falls to MASCAC Foe Fitchburg State, 85-77

FITCHBURG, Mass. -- The Fitchburg State University men's basketball team posted an 85-77 win over visiting Bridgewater State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) contest on Wednesday night at Parkinson Gymnasium.

Kwame Lee tallied 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Falcons. Josh Bosworth posted a double-double with 13 points and ten boards, while Givaughn Jones added 13 points and Lance Hill chipped in ten points and six boards.

Bridgewater State was led by Patrick McGuinness who came off the bench to record a career-high 16 points in 23 minutes.

The Bears finished the game with five players in double figures led by McGuinness. Rocky DeAndrade tallied 15 points and Jamir Henderson notched 12 points to go along with three steals in 21 minutes off the bench. Fawaz Mass added 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Ryan Carney finished with 11 points.

The first half featured seven ties and 14 lead changes. Fitchburg held the biggest lead of the stanza, 19-12, following a Jalen Williams' layup at the 13:13 mark. The Bears responded with an 8-2 run on the strength of a pair of three-pointers from Jamir Williams and capped off by a McGuinness layup. Neither team would lead by more than three points for the remainder of the half as the Falcons took a 43-41 advantage into the break.

A Carney three-pointer followed by 1 of 2 free throws from Mass gave the Bears their final lead of the night, 47-46. Later in the period, DeAndrade drained a trifecta at the 13:21 mark to pull the Bears to within one at 56-55.

Fitchburg then rattled off 13 straight points to take control of the game. Jones scored five points during the run while Hill added four as the Falcons led 69-55 with 7:22 remaining.

Following a Mass bucket, layups by Bosworth and Hill followed by an Anthony Muccioli jumper gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the game, 75-57, as the clock ticked under four minutes.

Bridgewater responded with a 9-1 run highlighted by six points from McGuinness, including a pair of free throws with 1:51 left to play, to pull the Bears to within ten (76-56).

Tysaul Horton, however, drained a clutch three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to help secure the victory for the hosts. Fitchburg was able to hold off another late BSU push as the Falcons came away with the 85-77 victory.

Fitchburg shot 52% (32-61) for the game but connected on just 19 of 31 (61%) free throw attempts. The Falcons held a 54-32 edge in points in the paint as well as a 53-35 rebounding advantage.

After shooting 46% (13-28) in the first half, Bridgewater struggled from the floor over the final 20 minutes connecting on just 12 of 42 (29%) field goal attempts.

The Bears forced 23 turnovers and committed 15, but it was the Falcons who finished with the 22-17 edge in points off turnovers.

The MASCAC schedule continues for both teams on Saturday afternoon at three. The Bears entertain Salem State University while the Falcons hit the road to take on Worcester State University.