MEN’S HOCKEY WINS
SALEM — In Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference action, the Salem State University Vikings (12-5) skated to a 7-2 victory over the Corsairs of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (5-8-3) at Rockett Arena on Saturday afternoon. The win gives Salem State a 7-2-0 record in the MASCAC while UMass-Dartmouth drops to 4-4-2 in conference.
Salem State scored four first period goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead after one. The Vikings struck first on a tip-in by Cam Moniz (Seekonk, MA) at the 9:16 mark. However, Matt Baldino (Woburn, MA) evened the score for UMass Dartmouth with a power play goal less than two minutes later. Moniz answered again for the Vikings, scoring his team-leading 11th goal at 13:49. Andrew Bettencourt (Riverside, RI) and Andrew Bucci (Peabody, Mass.) each added scores before the horn for Salem State, which outshot the Corsairs 18-7 in the period.
Bucci put Salem State up 5-1 before UMass-Dartmouth’s Casey Shea (Woburn, MA) converted on a power play to draw UMass Dartmouth to within three, 5-2. Daniel Campbell (Waterloo, ONT) answered, scoring on a 2-on-1 for Salem State to make it 6-2 at the end of the second.
Brandon Platt (Pittsburgh, PA) closed the scoring with a wrister in the opening minutes of the third period as the Vikings would go on to win 7-2.
Marcus Zelzer (Green Bay, WI) had 22 saves for the Vikings while Drew Michals (Newton, MA) stopped 31 shots for the Corsairs before giving way to Jacob Ferreira (Westport, MA) – one save, and Tommy Bay (Duluth, GA) – four saves in the third.
Salem State will take on Framingham St. on Thursday at 7:00 PM at Rockett Arena, while UMass-Dartmouth will host Fitchburg State University on Thursday at 7:30 PM.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL WINS
SALEM – Marcus Faison (Cambridge, Mass.) recorded his seventh straight double-double, scoring 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Salem State received 43 points off the bench as the Vikings took firm control of first place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 102-83 win over Fitchburg State. Salem State won for the sixth straight time to improve to 12-7 while remaining unbeaten in the MASCAC at 6-0. The Falcons slide to 10-8 and 3-2 in conference.
Shaquan Murray (Boston, Mass.) added 20 points and five steals while Jacob Lindland (Hamilton, Mass.) and Shyheim Davis (Boston, Mass.) combined for 34 points off the bench for Salem State. Lindland went 6-8 (.075%) from the field, including 4-6 from three-point range and Davis shot 7-9 (.078%) from he floor and added five rebounds.
Fitchburg State was led by Jaleel Bell’s (Dorchester, Mass.) 20 points and Leonny Burgos (Lawrence, Mass.), who added 11. Josh Bosworth (Springfield, Mass.) and Givaughn Jones (Dorchester Mass.) each had 10 points for the Falcons, who allowed 37 points off turnovers.
Faison led all scorers in the first half with 16 points and nine rebounds. The Vikings shot a blistering (21-34) 61.8% from the field and they forced 15 Fitchburg State turnovers while scoring 30 points in the paint. Faison hit back-to-back layups to stake the Vikings to a 17-9 lead early. Following a layup by Bell, Salem State wet on a 7-0 run as Lindland and Zach Hurynowicz (Burlington, Mass.) converted consecutive three point plays. Salem State increased their lead to 18 on two free throws by Murray, 34-16 with 6:56 remaining. The Falcons steadily crept back in, as they went on their own 10-0 run to draw within eight at 34-26. Back-to-back layups by Troy Dacosta (Cambridge, Mass.) spearheaded the surge, and a bucket by Burgos put the Rams behind 34-26. However, Lindland connected on two three pointers and Faison added a basket to quickly build the lead back to 14 as Salem State ended the half on an 18-6 run to lead 52-34 at the half.
Burgos and Bell, each tallied eight points for Fitchburg State, which shot (14-32) 43.8% from the floor in the first half.
Trailing by 16, the Falcons stormed back, and cut the deficit to nine, 52-43 in the opening minutes of the second half scoring on four consecutive possessions, highlighted by a Bell three. Once again the Vikings answered as Davis scored six quick points and Murray added three and the lead ballooned back to 15, 60-45 with 16:21 remaining. The Vikings increased the margin to as high as 25, forcing 12 second half turnovers, despite Fitchburg State shooting 19-29 (65.5%) from the field in the second half. Salem State kept the huge advantage for the remainder of the second half, with the lead hovering around 20 for the remainder of the game. Drew Healy (Lowell, Mass.) added a dunk and an-one to push the lead to 90-70, before the Vikings settled for the 102-83 victory.
Salem State travels to Framingham State on Saturday, January 30th for a 3:00 PM scheduled start. Fitchburg State hosts the Rams on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WINS
SALEM – Junior Kaitlyn Bryan (Lowell, MA) scored 23 points and added five assists, and Tyra Scott (Methuen, MA) contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, and four steals as Salem State built an early lead and coasted to a 75-50 victory over Fitchburg State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Twohig Gymnasium.
Fitchburg State opened the contest with a pair of buckets from senior Stephanie Leveillee and sophomore Michaela McTomney before the Vikings responded with eight straight points on a trio of baskets by junior Malissa Saad (Worcester, MA) and a layup from sophomore Kate Lipka (Peabody, MA) to take an 8-4 lead.
Following a jumper from McTomney to make the score 8-6, Salem State closed the first quarter with a 7-1 run as Lipka knocked down a three pointer, while Bryan added two points for a 15-7 margin after the first quarter.
The two teams traded baskets to start the second quarter before the hosts expanded its lead on a 13-0 stretch as Bryan sparked the run with nine of her 14 first half points, while Saad and senior forward Tahira Peralta added two points each to make the score 48-24 going into the break.
Salem State shot 19-41 (.463%) from the field while forcing 16 Fitchburg State turnovers.
Following intermission, the Vikings built the lead to 26, 51-25 on a free throw by Bryan and the Vikings took a 60-37 advantage at the end of the third frame as Scott connected on a pair of baskets right before the horn.
Salem State kept the margin around 20 for the remainder of the fourth quarter as Fitchburg State struggled to get any offensive going in the second half, converting just six field goals on 17 attempts.
The Falcons ended with 30 turnovers, which the Vikings converted into 34 points while outscoring the Falcons 23-9 off the bench.
Saad added 11 points and Lipka and Peralta each had 10 points off the bench for Salem State, which had five players in double figures.
For Fitchburg State, Villa registered 16 points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Leveillee added a double-double of 13 points, 11 caroms and an assist.
The Vikings held a 21-12 advantage on the offensive glass and held Fitchburg State to 16-of-44 (36.4%) from the field. The Vikings finished 29-for-73 (39.7%) from the field, including 35.7% (5-of-14) from three point range.
Salem State (5-13, 2-4 MASCAC) will visit Rivier University on Tuesday for a contest starting at 7 p.m. Fitchburg State (0-17, 0-5 MASCAC) returns to action on Wednesday as it hosts the Rams of Framingham State University at 5:30 p.m.
Information supplied by the Salem State College Sports Information Office
