Men’s Basketball Falls to Fisher, 79-49

WORCESTER, Mass. – Fisher College's senior guard Kyle Holmes (Hamden, Conn.) registered a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the visiting Falcons to a 79-49 non-conference win over Worcester State Monday night inside the Lancer Gymnasium.

Holmes made 8-of-16 (50%) shots from the field, including five triples throughout the contest. Also scoring in double figures was Malik Wilson (St. Louis Park, Minn.) who was one rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points, nine rebounds, and a game-high four blocks. Brodric Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) and DeAndre Pennington (Columbia, Mo.) chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Falcons.

As a team, the Falcons shot 46.4% from the field, 34.8% from beyond the arc, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Fisher held the Lancers to just a 25.3% field goal percentage and only allowed 3-of-24 3-pointers to fall.

Worcester State's leading scorer was Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) with 15 points. Brooks also picked up a team-high nine rebounds and four blocks in the contest. The Blue and Gold's Jamal Mustapha (Worcester, Mass.) recorded eight points and six rebounds, while rookie Cal Howes (Maynard, Mass.) tallied seven points.

Following a slow start for each team, the visitors jumped out to a 10-point lead eight minutes into the game following a 10-0 run on points from Wilson, Smith, Holmes, and Darrell Grady (Staten Island, N.Y.). Worcester State closed the gap to six on back-to-back layups from Brooks and Jeremy Bacon (Milford, Mass.). However, the Falcons persisted and ran the score up in the next 10 minutes of play to lead 38-20 at the intermission.

The second half began with a pair of free throws from Wilson, a layup from Smith, and a jumper from Wilson to boost the Falcon's lead to 24. Worcester State cut the lead back to 20 and held it within until the Falcons' offense sparked with just under 10 minutes to go. Fisher went on a 14-2 run to see their largest lead of the game of 31 with 6:05 remaining on the clock. The Lancers, therefore, held onto the deficit and concluded the game behind 30 with a final score of 79-49.

Worcester State (6-15) returns to MASCAC action on Wednesday (Feb. 8) when they travel to Fitchburg State for a 5:30 p.m. game. Fisher College (17-8) resumes play on the same date when they host Vermont Tech in a 7 p.m. contest.