Lynn, MA- The Falcons Men's Basketball team got their 10th win on Friday evening, defeating the visiting Villa Maria College Vikings 82-73. The win was the fastest the Falcons hit the 10-win mark since the 2016-17 team earned their 10th win on January 14, 2017. Coach Blouin is now just two wins shy of having his best season at the helm with nine regular season games remaining. With the win the Falcons improve to 10-9, while the Vikings fall to 6-11 on the year.
VMC jumped out of the gate strong, hitting two of their first three shots and leading 4-2 after three minutes of play. However, the Falcons took over from there, not relinquishing the lead for the rest of the contest. A Jordan Heine 3-pointer tied it for the Vikings at 9-9, but the Falcons responded with a key 18-4 run that gave the home team a 27-13 lead with 8:13 left in the first half. The Vikings answered with their own 9-0 run in three minutes to get within five over the next three minutes, but four straight buckets from senior Jhalen Lumpkins (Sacramento, CA) put the home team back up by 16, and would take a 44-28 lead into the locker room.
Six straight points for the visitors out of the break made it a 10-point game with less than two minutes into the second stanza. Lumpkins broke up the Vikings run, again, hitting three straight shots, with Chris Sorapuru (Temecula, CA) following with a trifecta to make it 53-39 game. The Falcons looked to close the door on the Vikings, leading by as many 17 with nine minutes left in the game but the Vikings would not go quietly. Ten straight points, capped by an Ivey Doiron 3-pointer made it a 68-61 contest with 6:27 on the clock. Fisher was able to maintain their composure though, forcing the Vikings to foul in the last minute of the game. The Falcons hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal an 82-73 victory.
With both teams shooting over 50% in the contest, the Falcons relied on their swarming defense to get the win, forcing 22 Vikings turnovers and tying a season high with 16 steals, including six from Lumpkins. The senior guard also finished with 27 points, his 4th straight game of 20+ points, while adding three rebounds and a pair of assists. Anthony Lewis was the other Falcon to finish in double digits with 12 points to go along with six boards. Malik Seldon (Los Angeles, CA), Kyle Williams (Fairfield, CA) and Sorapuru combined for 25 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in the victory. Villa Maria was led by Trayvon Holt who tallied 25 points and six boards, while Raymond Sims and Victor Fuller also added double-digit performances with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
The Falcons will look to make it four straight wins when they take on the Bryant & Stratton-Buffalo Bobcats on Sunday at 2pm. The two teams matched up on the first game of the season, with the Bobcats edging the Falcons 73-71 back on November 2nd.