The Fisher Falcons closed out their 2011 home schedule with a 74-65 loss to the Bates College Bobcats Wednesday night in Lynn, MA. The loss was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Falcons who fall to 2-10 on the young season. Bates improves to 4 -2 on the year.
Neither team started off the game on the right foot as the turnovers started to mount up. Both teams combined for five turnovers in the first two minutes before John Squires hit a jumper to open the scoring for the Bobcats. After a Fisher turnover, Squires hit another jumper to increase the lead to four. Fisher finally got on the board during their next position when Sophomore Zach Pope (Orlando, FL) knocked down a three pointer from the corner.
Squires, the centerpiece to Bates' offense on the night, added another jumper to start a 6-2 run for the Bobcats increasing their lead to 10-5 with 15:17 remaining in the half. Squires finished with 16 points on the evening on 6-10 shooting, contributing a total of 9 rebounds to the victory.
Fisher's luck began to turn when Squires was subbed out with 14:46 left. Over the next six minutes the Falcons went on a 16 to 4 run, fueled by a pair of buckets by senior Dennis Norford (New Haven, CT) and an increase in defensive pressure, forcing Bates into multiple turnovers.
Fisher led 21-14 with 8:37 left in the first half, its biggest lead on the night.
Bates used the 3 point shot to spark a run of their own. Long range efforts from Reid Christian and Mark Burst led the Bobcats on a 17-10 run to close out the half with a 36-31 lead. The Bobcats only shot 46% to Fisher's 56% in the first half but 11 first half turnovers by the Falcons gave Bates an advantage at the break.
Fisher come out in the second half with an increased sense of urgency, and used a ¾ court press to force Bates into back to back turnovers.
After 3 ½ minutes into the second half Fisher had erased their halftime deficit and held a 45-42 lead. The Bobcats responded again with yet another run, this time outscoring the Falcons 13 to 4 over the next five minutes to take a 55-49 lead with just over 10 minutes left.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, one last run wasn't in them as they traded baskets with the Bobcats for the remainder of the game. Norford led the Falcons on the night with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, for his 9th double-double in 12 games this year. Fisher also got strong contributions from junior Ryan McCorkle (Bellevue, WA), with 11 points, 3 rebounds, and sophomore Orlando Zayas (East Boston, MA) who had 8 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.
Reid Christian added 16 points for the Bobcats. Luke Matarazzo handed out 7 assists in the victory.
The Falcons will return to action this Saturday when they travel to Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. Fisher lost the previous meeting to their American Mideast rivals 82-50 back on November 12th in Lynn, MA. Tip-off is scheduled for 2pm.