Machias, ME - The Men's Basketball team found themselves down by as many as 13 in the second half, but were able to battle back and sweep the season series over the University of Maine-Machias (4-8), 71-68 in OT.
The Falcons (5-8) defeated the Clippers earlier this season 77-61, but this time UMM had the home court advantage and pulled ahead right from the jump as they got an early 8-0 lead in just two minutes of play. A Falcons timeout put the away team back on track as they scored the next six points to bring it back to 8-6. For the next six minutes the two teams would exchange baskets in a seesaw battle that saw five ties with Fisher finally taking the lead 18-17 at the 8:58 mark with a pair of Jhalen Lumpkins (Sacramento, CA) free throws. The back and forth action would continue through the rest of the first half until the Clippers' Logan Alley hit a 3-pointer to give his team a five-point lead heading to the locker room.
The Clippers continued to stay hot out of the break knocking down the first six points of the half, going up 40-29 at the 18:02 mark. They would then get their biggest lead of the game on a Dante Ramos 3-pointer just two minutes later going up 45-31. The Clippers would maintain a double-digit lead until the Falcons clawed back within six points at 52-46 on a Malik Tavares jumpshot, but the Clippers kept the pressure on and stayed ahead for the next few minutes of play. Down by eight with just 4:21 left in the contest, Coach Rob Blouin called a timeout to regroup his team and it proved to be the difference. A Falcons 7-0 run, capped by a Chris Sorapuru (Temecula, CA) jumpshot, put the team back within one at 61-60 with just 1:14 on the clock, forcing a Machias timeout. A Fisher foul earned two Clippers free throws to put the home team up 63-60 with :30 seconds remaining. Sorapuru had another open look just seconds later but Machias came up with the rebound up to say up by three. A game-changing steal from Brandon Rembert (Camden, NJ) got Fisher the ball back and he found Sorapuru again for an open three-pointer that he sunk to tie the game at 63. Each team had one more shot to win the game before the buzzer but came up short and the two teams headed to OT.
OT was more of the same back and forth basketball as each team had their share of the lead in the extra minutes, but two key free throws in the last minute by Kyle Snowden (Santa Cruz, CA) gave his team a 71-68 lead. The Clippers had a chance with :10 seconds remaining as Ramos got a 3-point shot off before the buzzer, but it bounced out and the Falcons came out the winners, 71-68.
Giovanni Thompson (Kissimmee, FL) led the way for the Falcons in the win as he earned his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Lumpkins also had a double-double in the win off the bench, his third of the season as he contributed with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Rembert was the third Falcon to score in double figures with 12 points while grabbing six steals.
The Falcons will head back home to take on the University of Maine-Fort Kent on Saturday at 1pm at the Winsor School in Boston, MA.