Tacoma Park, MD- The Men's Basketball team came up just short against the second ranked Voorhees Tigers on Saturday afternoon, falling 75-69 in the first game of the A.I.I. East Coast Classic. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Falcons and brings their season record to 7-12, while the Tigers improve to 10-4 on the season. Each team had their opportunities for the win as it was a seesaw battle the entire contest. Over the 40 minutes of play there were six lead changes and two ties and both teams were nearly identical on the stat sheet as both teams shot 48% from the floor, with the Falcons grabbing one more rebound, 33-32.
The Tigers gained their biggest lead in the first half looking to put the game out of reach early, going up 17-6 with 14:02 left on the clock. The Falcons responded thought, with a 16-8 run over the next seven minutes, capped by a Ville Milan (Turku, Finland) 3-pointer to bring his team back to within three at 25-22. The two teams would exchange baskets over the next seven minutes and Abrian Dickson (Indian Valley, AZ) hit a jump shot just before the half to make the score 39-35 heading into the locker room.
Fisher would grab their first lead of the game out of the break after Mena Yacoub (Clermont, FL) and Giovanni Thompson (Kissimmee, FL) hit their first shots to go up 40-39. Thompson would grab another layup just seconds later to give the Falcons their biggest lead of the game 46-43. The Tigers responded with a 12-2 run and would pull ahead 55-48 with 11:50 remaining in the contest. Voorhees tried to put the game out of reach, going up by as many as 10 with 4:03 left on the clock, but the Falcons went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to get within four at 69-65. A key offensive rebound from Voorhees' Staten Levine in the late minutes forced the Falcons to foul putting the Tigers on the line where he sunk both free throws to go back up six. The Falcons could not get closer than four over the last 90 seconds and lost a tough one to the Tigers, 75-69.
The Falcons were led by Jhalen Lumpkins (Sacramento, CA) who had 19 points, six assists and five rebounds off the bench. Thompson tallied 14 points and three rebounds, while Milan finished with 13 points and a pair of rebounds in the losing effort. Anthony Lewis (Lodi, CA) was a force under the basket grabbing a season-high ten rebounds, while Kyle Snowden (Santa Cruz, CA) was a bucket shy of his first double-double of the season as contributed with eight points and 10 assists. Voorhees was led offensively by Denzel Famble who notched a double-double with 29 points and 10 boards in the victory.
Fisher will finish up the Classic this afternoon as they take on Fisk University, who fell to the host Washington Adventist Shock in the late game last night 78-44. The two teams tip-off at 12pm.