NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – A strong run through the midpoint of the second half was the difference maker Friday night as Fisher College finished off an 85-81 win over the Southern Vermont College men's basketball team at Mass. College of Liberal Arts in the opening round of the 2016 Tri-state Shootout Tournament.
The Falcons had a 42-39 upper hand going into halftime, but the Mountaineers continued to fight and went in front 58-54 with 11:30 left to go in regulation. FC came back with a 14-0 surge for a lead it would not relinquish, moving on to face the hosting Trailblazers in the Tournament's championship round Saturday evening.
SVC (2-7) will take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 2 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game back at MCLA. The Engineers fell 71-67 to the Trailblazers earlier Friday night.
Mountaineer senior Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) tallied career-bests of 31 points and 12 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double, adding three assists to his line. Classmate Davante Jordan (Great Mills, Md.) had 14 points and five assists while sophomore Josh Borders (Miami, Fla.) recorded 11 points and a game-high six helpers. Junior Daemond Carter (Forestville, Md.) dropped in 16 points and grabbed five boards in 30 minutes off the bench, and sophomore Malik Green (Miami, Fla.) snagged a game and season-best 15 rebounds off the glass.
Southern Vermont went 29-for-72 (40.3 percent) from the floor while Fisher connected on 31 of its 71 (43.7 percent) field goal attempts. The Mountaineers dropped 12 three-pointers to FC's 10, but the Falcons notched a 49-45 advantage on the boards.
Taylor had a strong start to the evening, helping SVC go up 8-3 through the opening three minutes with solid action at each end of the court. He completed an old-fashioned three-point play to get the Mountaineers on the scoreboard before adding a nice 18-foot jumper. The senior pulled down the defensive board on the ensuing Falcon possession and brought the ball all the way down the court in transition—finally dishing it out to the left corner for Borders to knock down an open trey.
FC slowly cut it down to a one-point lead through the 15:00 mark, but Taylor then connected on an open look from the right edge of the perimeter to put SVC ahead 13-9 off a Borders dish. The Falcons would then take to an 8-2 run, however-- a pair of threes helping them go ahead 17-15. Another FC bucket from downtown put Fisher on top 22-19 with 8:12 left to go in the period, only to see Green grab an offensive board and slam home the second chance. Carter then put it off the glass after driving down the left side of the lane for the 23-22 edge, but the Falcons used another triple to pull back in front 27-23. Southern Vermont would respond, chalking up a 7-2 run to stake a one-point edge.
That SVC lead would be short-lived as Fisher came back with six unanswered to reclaim the upper hand. Carter drove hard to the hoop and got the layup to go while drawing the foul, and he connected on the free throw to get his team within one. The two sides traded threes down the stretch of the half, but the Falcons got the last score to go as a jumper made it a 42-39 FC lead before the final 53 seconds of the half went scoreless.
Fisher was able to maintain its small separation once play got back underway but then went up by six with its seventh triple of the night. Southern Vermont came back with six straight to tie it up at 49-49-- Taylor notching four of those to continued his strong performance. FC went on a 5-1 spurt to go back in front by four, only to see the Mountaineers grab the momentum with solid outside shooting.
With the ball in the left corner, Borders got a three to go while falling backwards, and he then found Jordan in the same spot for another trey. Taylor went strongly to the rim on the next SVC trip down the court, getting the layup to fall for a four-point lead (58-54). The Falcons had an answer, however, as they would go up by 10 while registering field goals on their next seven possessions.
Southern Vermont started to inch back into it under the 7:00 mark of the second, three Mountaineers providing scores to make it just a 69-64 Fisher edge. A hard-fought Taylor bucket was mirrored by FC on the other end, and the Falcons then had a response to a Carter three with a deep ball of their own to stay up by five. A Fisher player was fouled while connecting on a trey in the right corner, the extra free throw going in for a 78-69 lead with 2:40 on the clock.
Taylor drilled one from beyond the arc to get his team back within six, but the Falcons were able to pad their cushion with a successful pair from the charity stripe. While still in the single bonus, a Fisher free throw shooter missed on the front-end of his one-and-one opportunity, and SVC then grabbed an offensive rebound for Jordan to drop a second-chance three-pointer. After a pair of made freebies pushed it back to seven for FC, Taylor knocked down a triple from just to the right of the top of the arc to make it a four-point contest.
Southern Vermont continued to play the foul game, seeing Fisher drop another pair from the line before Taylor kept his career night going as he made it a one-score affair with 15 ticks left to go on his fourth downtown bucket. FC would go 1-for-2 on its next trip to the stripe, however, before an errant three-point attempt by SVC solidified the Falcons' win.
– #LetsGoSVC –