NEW LONDON, Conn. -- In the second day of the Connecticut College and Coast Guard Tournament, the Camels beat Fisher 85-83 at Merriman Gymnasium on the Coast Guard Academy campus.
The Camels record improves to 4-2 on the season pushing their winning streak to four while the Falcons record drops to 2-4 on the year.
Connecticut College wad led by sophomore Lee Messier who had 25 points with seven three pointers. Messier shot 46.7 (7-15) from beyond the arc on the game including four in the first half. Freshman David Labossiere scored 19 with six rebounds while freshman Tyler Rowe had 16 points with four boards.
"We really had to stick together and fight hard in a game where we saw quite a few tactics we hadn't prepared for previously," Connecticut College Head Coach Tom Satran said. "Our foul shooting down the stretch was really important too."
Fisher senior Geodice Ortiz (Denver, Colo.) scored 17 points while grabbing nine rebounds for the Falcons. Fellow senior Tyler Shular (Norwalk, Conn.) added 19 points of his own and four rebounds. Junior Malik Wilson (St. Louis Park, Minn.) had 14 points shooting 6-7 from the field and collected seven boards while junior Kyle Holmes (Hamden, Conn.) came off the bench to add 15 points of his own
It was all Fisher at the start as the Falcons scored the first nine points of the game capping off the early run with a layup by Smith just under three minutes into the half.
Fisher pushed their lead to 14 as Shular completed the backend of an and one situation making the score 20-6 with 14:22 to go in the first half. Shular had seven points through the Falcons' early run.
Connecticut College climbed back into the game going on a 12-2 run closing the gap on Fisher's lead to two at 24-22 with 9:44on the clock. Labossiere had six points over this stretch including a cutting baseline dunk.
The Camels took their first lead of the game with 7:45 left to go in the half as Labossiere grabbed a rebound at the defensive end and found Rowe with a quick outlet pass. Rowe then stepped up and drained a three pointer giving Connecticut College a 27-26 lead.
The Camels continued to hold the lead for the rest of the half and pushed it to eight as Messier nailed a three pointer pushing the score to 43-35 at the 2:24 mark.
Fisher, however did not allow Connecticut College to pull away late in the half as they finished the period on a 6-0 run making the halftime score 43-41 in favor of the Camels.
Connecticut College pushed their lead to 13 to lead off the the second half as Messier drilled a three from deep making the score 56-43 with 16:41 left in the second half.
The Falcons then cut into the Camel's advantage with an 18-8 run finished off with a steal and layup by Ortiz bringing the score to 64-61 with 10:30 showing on the clock.
Fisher and Connecticut College traded the lead five more times until Labossiere completed a three point play giving the Camels a one point lead with just under three minutes left in the game. The Falcons were unable to reclaim the lead after that as Connecticut College made their foul shots late closing out the game for an 85-83 victory.
The Camels were 26-59(44.1%) from the floor and shot 40% (10-25) from beyond the arc. Connecticut College made their free throws count making 23-27 (85.2%) from the stripe.
Fisher shot 46.6% (27-58) overall and 7-17 (41.2%) from three. The owls held a slight advantage on the boards, 38-35.
The Falcons will be back in action Tuesday, December 9, traveling to Fitchburg, Mass. for a match-up with Fitchburg State University at 7:00 p.m.