DUDLEY, Mass. (Jan. 13) – The Fitchburg State men’s basketball team scored 56 second-half points to surge to an 80-73 non-conference victory at Nichols College Wednesday evening. The Falcons improve to 4-9 overall while the Bison dip to 7-6 on the season.
Fitchburg State was led by 29 points from junior guard Robert Hopkins, who accounted for close to half of the visitors’ second-half points with 24. He finished six-for-seven from beyond the arc and was seven-for-seven at the line. Three other players joined in with double-digit point totals as Colin London and Blake Sheldon added 14 and 13 respectively and Timothy Graham chipped in with 10 and a team-high seven rebounds. London tallied a game-high seven assists.
Senior forward Ryan Wilcox (West Granby, Conn.) led four Bison scorers in double digits with 19, sinking five of nine three-pointers. Forward Pete Atkins (Gainesville, Fla.) added 17 and senior guard Bryan Riley (West Boylston, Mass.) chipped in with 14 points, including a 10-for-11 effort at the line. Senior guard Chris Paquin (Barre, Mass.) inched closer to the 1,000-point mark with 10 points and stands nine away from the milestone.
In the first half, Nichols dominated the glass with a 24-13 rebounding margin and took advantage of Fitchburg’s 30% shooting performance to edge ahead to a 34-24 lead at the break. The Bison held the Falcons scoreless over the final 6:47 of the opening frame while pouring in 14 points, including four of four free throws from Riley.
The Bison edged ahead by as many as 12 early in the second half, but Hopkins found his groove, hitting nine points amidst an 18-6 run that saw the game all tied up at 47-47 with 12:55 left. The teams traded leads until Hopkins capped a 9-3 Fitchburg run with a pair of free throws to hold a 66-57 advantage with 6:21 to play.
Nichols chipped away at the visitors’ lead and brought it within one on a Chris Paquin three-pointer with 5:16 left. The Bison kept the game close, but a trey from Hopkins with 34 seconds left put Fitchburg up by four, 77-73, and the Falcons hit three of four free throws in the waning seconds to close out the game.
The Falcons fired 64.3% in the second half to finish the night shooting at a 46.6% clip. Nichols maintained its rebounding advantage, finishing with a 38-26 lead, including a 28-17 margin on the defensive end.
Nichols is back in action on Saturday in a 3 p.m. home The Commonwealth Coast Conference game against New England College. Fitchburg State hosts MASCAC foe Bridgewater State Saturday at 3 p.m. for a conference game.
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