Saints Fly Past Falcons in Non-Conference Action

Fitchburg, Mass. –The Fitchburg State men's basketball team dropped a 74-70 decision to the Saints of Emmanuel College on Thursday evening at the Parkinson Gymnasium

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 70, Emmanuel 74
Records: Fitchburg State (0-2) | Emmanuel (1-0)

How It Happened

The Falcons raced out to a 9-4 advantage on the back of junior Nathaniel Semedo (Bridgewater, Mass.), who notched all nine points for Fitchburg State. The Saints collected a pair of free throws from Zaire Baines (Queens, NY) and a layup from Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.)  to cut the deficit to 15-11. Semedo responded with five straight to move the Falcons' advantage to 26-19.

Trailing 26-21, the Saints knocked down a three-pointer from Walker Baillargeon (Norwich, Conn.). However, the Falcons would reel off seven straight points with a pair of layups from junior Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.), sandwiched around a deep three-pointer from rookie Tyrone Manderson (Saugus, Mass.).

Emmanuel closed out the first frame with a 14-2 run. Baines had a pair of buckets from beyond the arc, and Ryan Grijalva (Statham, NH) added four from the charity stripe in the run as the Saints went into intermission with a 38-37 lead.

Manderson opened the second half with a jumper to regain the lead for the Falcons (39-38). Emmanuel answered with six straight capped by a trey from Ricky Martin (Sicklerville, NJ) to force a Green and Gold timeout. A layup from Pope with 11:20 to play gave the Saints a ten-point lead (55-45). Fitchburg State responded with buckets from Semedo and Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.) to knot the game at 57-57.

With three minutes remaining, sophomore Frederick Siayor (Worcester, Mass.) hit a jumper and drained a three-pointer to take a 67-66 lead. However, a pair of baskets from Pope and four straight from the free-throw line sealed the victory for the visitors.

Inside the Numbers

•                 Semedo led the Falcons with 24 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. Tajahn Joyner (Amherst, Mass.) added six points, seven caroms, five assists, and a steal
•                 Donte Pope had a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Grijalva and Baines each contributed 14 points for the Saints

 Up Next

Fitchburg State will head to Western Connecticut this weekend for the Wolves Classic. The Falcons face WestConn on Saturday at 5:00 PM.