Fitchburg State Falls To Clark, 92-70

London paces Falcons with a team-high 14 points in season-opener

WORCESTER, Mass. (November 16, 2009) - The Fitchburg State men's basketball team suffered a tough 92-70 season opening loss to Clark University in non-conference action this evening.

Clark raced out to a 22-7 lead in part because of the inside dominance of sophomore Mitch Renshaw (Rutland, Mass./Wachusett Regional) and classmate Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, Mass./Tantasqua). The Cougar advantage grew to as many as 20 in the waning moments of the first half as Vayda notched 19 points in the frame,  leading Clark to a 44-26 advantage at the break.

The contest remained the same throughout much of the second half as the Cougars went ahead by as many as 24 following a steal and breakaway dunk by Mark Alexander (Providence, R.I./Marianapolis Prep). 

The Falcons mounted a comeback going on a 10-2 run over a span of 2:20 to trim Clark's lead to 11 at 70-59, but the Cougars had an answer via the three-pointer as senior Jack Minister (Manchester, England) nailed two triples and classmate Chris LoPiano (Franklin Square, N.Y./Saint Dominic) added another to push the lead back to 79-63.

The Scarlet and White shot 49 percent from floor for the contest led by the hot shooting of Vayda. The sophomore forward led a quartet of Cougars in double figures with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Renshaw posted career-bests of 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Senior Colin London (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) led the Fitchburg State offense with a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds, while senior captain Tim Graham (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) added 11 points (4-of-6), four rebounds and two steals. Junior Robert Hopkins (East Hartford, Conn./RHAM) also had a solid debut for the Falcons, totaling 12 points and five boards. 

Fitchburg State (0-1, 0-0 MASCAC) will be in action again on Friday as it competes in the Eastern Connecticut State tournament at 5:30 p.m. Clark (1-0, 0-0 NEWMAC) returns to action on Wednesday when it visits Rhode Island College beginning at 7 p.m.

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Clark 92, Fitchburg State 70