Boston, MA – The Fisher College Falcons defeated the University of Maine-Machias (UMM) by a score of 90-77 in a non-conference matchup. Fisher improves to 14-4 on the season while UMM falls to 6-8 on the season.
Fisher won the ball off the jump, but couldn't produce before the Clippers took a quick 4-0 lead. OJ Moore (Houston, TX) cut the lead to 4-3 when he drained a three-pointer for the Falcons. Tyler Shular (Norwalk, CT) was able to tie the game at six when he then sank a three from behind the left-side arc.
The Falcons took their first lead of the game at 11-8 when Moore hit a three-pointer. Geodice Ortiz (Denver, CO) added an insurance shot to bring the score to 13-8 on a layup fed to him under the basket. UMM retaliated and decreased the lead to 13-10 on a layup scored by Antwan Ruise. Ortiz helped the Falcons take an eight-point lead with a three. Ira Haywood (Las Vegas, NV) continued to pile on the Falcon points as he hit a shot from behind the arc for three points.
The Clippers came within 28-26 of the Falcons with just under seven minutes to play in the first half. Haywood hit two free throws to put the Falcons back up by four, 32-28. Dreu Johnson of WMM hit two shots from the line to bring the score back to 32-30. With just over two minutes left in the half, the Clippers took back the lead with a score of 37-35 and forced a Falcon timeout. Jonas Rusom (Hasselby, Sweden) hit a thre- pointer to put the Falcons back up 38-37 before UMM hit a jumper to take the lead back. Heading into the break, the Falcons were down by one, 39-38.
Ortiz lit the path for the Falcons in the first half, scoring nine points and grabbing two boards. Other key Falcons in the first half were Moore (six points, three rebounds), Shular (five points, one rebound), Haywood (five points), Jameel Yousif (Glendale, AZ) (five points, two rebounds), and Kyle Holmes (Hamden, CT) (five points).
Reggie Thompson led the way for the Clippers, scoring 10 points and recording one rebound. Johnson was another key player for the Clippers, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds. Floyd Higgins, Ivory Snead, and Ruise all had six points in the first half.
The second half began in the Falcon's favor with a run of seven points before UMM netted a shot to bring the score to 45-41. Shular continued the positive pace for the Falcons as he stole an inbound ball and increased the lead by seven with a dunk. Threes were sunk by both teams to change the score to 56-49 in Falcon favor with just over 15 minutes left in the game. Shular added another three to increase the Falcon lead to 10, 59-49. The Falcons then took a 12-point lead on a Tim Murphy (Fort Lauderdale, FL) layup, putting the Falcons up 66-54.
With eight minutes left, the Clippers closed the Falcons lead to 10 with a layup, but the Falcons were up 72-62. UMM cut the lead to eight, but not before Darrell Grady (Staten Island, NY) made a layup to put the Falcons back up 10, 76-66. Moore sunk a three-pointer to change the score to 79-68. The Clippers came within nine, bringing the score to 79-70 with 3:33 left in the game. Haywood gave the Falcons an 11-point lead when he hit two shots from the line, 81-70.
Shular went to the line to shoot two and brought the score to 83-70, but Johnson then hit a three-pointer for the Clippers, bringing the score to 83-73 with 1:56 left in the game. With a defensive rebound by Moore and a long pass to Shular for a layup, the Falcons then went up by 13, 86-73. With time running out on the clock, the score finalized at 90-77.
Shular finished the game leading the Falcons with 18 points and five rebounds. Moore (17 points and five rebounds) and Ortiz (16 points, five rebounds) also were key Falcons in the victory. Other Falcons who contributed to the win were Haywood, Holmes, and Grady.
Johnson led the Clippers with 17 points and four rebounds. Ruise was another key scorer for UMM with 15 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Ben Teer, Snead, and Thompson also scored double digits for the Clippers in the loss.
Fisher returns to action on Saturday, January 17 at 3:00 pm when they play host to West Virginia Tech in the Fecteau-Leary Gymnasium in Lynn, MA.