Falcons Pull Away From AMCATS in Second Half

 PAXTON, Mass. – AMCATS junior Anthony Click (Springfield, Mass.) led all scorers with 33 points but Anna Maria College was downed 84-73 by Fitchburg State University at The Fuller Activities Center on Tuesday night. The win improves the Falcons' overall mark to 8-2 on the season, while the loss drops the AMCATS record to 2-6.

Click shot 12-for-20 from the floor and hit eight of his nine free throws for his 33 points along with grabbing 11 rebounds for the games only double-double, he also added 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Also tallying double digit points were Javier Bristol (Haverhill, Mass.) and senior Brad Peterson (North Kingstown, RI). Bristol shot a blistering 5 for 7 from the field for his 10 points while also snatching 9 rebounds, Peterson added eleven points and 7 rebounds.

The Falcons received a strong effort from junior Tom Henneberry (Lexington, Mass.) who scored a team-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor. Sophomore guard Mike Ingram-Rubin (Boston, Mass.) and Adam Fahey (Auburn, Mass.) each added 13 points and senior Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass.) chipped in 12 points off the bench.

The first half was closely contested and included seven ties and seven lead changes; with AMC eventually taking a 35-31 lead into the intermission. The FSU bench outscored Anna Maria's bench 19-6 in the period. Anna Maria held the shooting edge in the half outshooting Fitchburg 52% to 27%.

Anna Maria opened up the second half with baskets by Click and Bristol to hold a slim 5 point advantage at 39-34. The Falcons responded with a trey by Tom Henneberry to cut the lead to 39-37, and after an AMC missed shot Javier Bristol stole the ball from FSU's guard Jeremy Kimber and scored an uncontested dunk to increase the lead back to four at the 17:10 mark.

Fitchburg State tightened up their defense and caused four straight turnovers by AMC and took their first lead of the half at 44-43 on a jumper by Kimber. Again the teams traded baskets and at the 9:56 mark the game was tied for the tenth and final time at 54-54.

Fitchburg State's junior Tom Henneberry scored the Falcons next eight points as they extended their lead to 5 points and the AMCATS couldn't respond to the run as FSU stretched their lead to 11 points and the win.

The AMCATS return to action on Thursday night when they host Nichols College at 7:00 pm, the Falcons are off until Saturday when they host the Bears of Bridgewater State at 3:00 pm.

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