FITCHBURG, Mass. – A back-and-forth non-conference men's basketball tilt saw the hosting Fitchburg State University Falcons score five points in the final 45 seconds of regulation to tie the game before they topped Southern Vermont College 71-66 after an extra five-minute session on Saturday.
FSU brought a marginal 32-31 lead into the locker room, but the Mountaineers would go back on top in the second frame. SVC was up 61-56 in the last minute of the half, only to see a Falcon three-pointer with 28 ticks left tie it up.
Southern Vermont had a chance for the win with a final possession, but the game-winning attempt went wayward to force the overtime. Fitchburg State went ahead by four midway through the added period and held off SVC from getting closer than three the rest of the way.
The Mountaineers (2-9) are back in action on Tuesday when they head to Newbury College for a 7:30 p.m. resumption of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) schedule.
SVC was led by junior Claude Payne (South Plainfield, N.J.) who tallied 20 points and a game-best 12 rebounds in his first game as a Mountaineer— eight of those boards coming on the offensive glass in his 23 minutes off the bench.
Classmate Mike Pierre (Melrose, N.Y.) notched 14 points and eight rebounds in his first appearance for Southern Vermont while sophomore Josh Borders (Miami, Fla.) had 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior Nate Goldsmith (Capitol Heights, Md.) registered 10 points, seven boards and a pair of assists in the effort.
FSU went 23-for-64 (35.9 percent) from field goal range while holding SVC to a 24.7 percent (18-73) clip from the floor. Southern Vermont grabbed a 54-52 advantage in rebounding while turning in a 19-15 upper hand in points off turnovers.
The Falcons went up 9-2 off the jump, but Southern Vermont pulled ahead with eight unanswered points— six of those coming off Pierre's hand. FSU regained the lead with six straight, only to see the Mountaineers keep pace and tie it at 16-16 with four consecutive points by SVC senior Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.).
The two sides traded spurts as Fitchburg State went up by five before six unanswered at the other end gave the edge to Southern Vermont. FSU responded with a run that put the hosts in front 27-22 late in the opening half before a Taylor three cut it to just a 27-26 Falcon lead. A three ball with 1:08 on the clock put FSU up by six, but Borders trimmed the deficit with a pair of freebies before knocking down a buzzer-beating triple to make it a 32-31 FSU advantage at halftime.
A pair of Fitchburg State three-pointers early in the second period bumped it back to a five-point difference, but Payne would then tally five straight by himself to tie it at 38-38. FSU slowly went back up by five through the 10-minute mark, and that lead would get increased to nine as the Falcons tried to pull away.
SVC would flip the switch at that point, however, and grabbed the momentum to go on a 14-0 run; that surge was due to quality free throw shooting as Southern Vermont went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe during the stretch. A pair of successful Goldsmith shots from the line then put SVC on top 59-54 with 2:34 to go, and a Payne layup kept it a five-point separation in the final minute of regulation.
A Mountaineer foul allowed the Falcons to make it a one-possession game with two good free throws, and FSU then forced a turnover that resulted in a game-tying three on the ensuing trip down the court. Southern Vermont would use two timeouts in a 16-second span in an attempt to draw up the go-ahead play, but the potentially winning shot couldn't fall as the game went into overtime.
Fitchburg went up by three after its first two possession of the extra stanza, but Pierre knocked home a triple to even things at 65-65. The Falcons scored two quick baskets to pull back in front before a 1-for-2 trip to the line for SVC kept the Mountaineers' hopes alive. Southern Vermont was able to force a turnover with 39 ticks to go, only to have FSU do the same with 10 seconds left and force SVC to foul. The hosts sealed the victory with a pair of baskets from the stripe as the Mountaineers finished their non-conference schedule.
– #LetsGoSVC –