Joyner, Falcons beat the buzzer
Senior guard scores as time expires to lift FSU
Tajahn Joyner’s running jumper at the buzzer broke a 61-all tie and lifted the fifth-seeded Fitchburg State men’s basketball team past No. 4 Salem State, 63- 61, in a MASCAC quarterfinal on Tuesday evening.
The Falcons (10-15, 4- 8 MASCAC) advance to the conference semifinals where they will face topseeded Worcester State on Thursday.
Trailing by as many as five with two minutes to play, the Falcons rallied to pull even at 61, setting up Joyner’s dramatic buzzer beater.
The Falcons were paced by Joyner with a game-high 19 points to go along with four rebounds, four steals and an assist. Dayne Allen added a double- double of 14 points and 20 boards in the win.
Salem State raced out to an early 6-1 advantage before Fitchburg State went on an 11- 0 run with senior Quincy Taylor, Joyner, sophomore Matthew Tanis and junior Javon Taylor netting buckets.
The Falcons upped the lead to 16-8 as Quincy Taylor registered a layup, but the Vikings responded with a 9- 0 stretch, capped by a 3-pointer from sophomore Juvens Louis to take an 1816 edge.
The two teams traded buckets with roughly five minutes remaining in the half to knot the contest at 22-22 before the Green and Gold grabbed a 31-23 lead going into the break with Allen and freshman Tyrone Manderson collecting layups.
Following the intermission, Salem State trimmed the deficit to 31-27 as senior Chris Macdonald buried a 3 before Fitchburg State answered with a bucket by senior Mikal Garcia.
The Vikings continued to rally, taking a 36-35 edge on a Jarret Byrne free throw, but the Falcons regained a 37-36 lead when Tanis converted a pair from the charity stripe. The teams traded buckets as Tanis knocked down a 3-pointer for the Green and Gold, while Jaden Castillo connected on a layup for the host to knot the score at 42.
FSU trio sweeps track honors
Fitchburg State junior Taban Manyok was again
named MASCAC Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, while senior Eric Shimiyimana was once more tabbed Indoor Field Athlete of the Week and freshman Cameron Monette was selected as the conference’s Indoor Rookie of the Week.
Manyok earns his fifth MASCAC honor of the season after he took top honors in the 3,000 meter with a DIII New England qualifying and PR time of 8:45.09 for the Falcons at the 2023 Lynn Ruddy Invitational hosted by Bowdoin College on Saturday.
Shimiyimana picks up his sixth award of the season after placing first overall in the triple jump with a DIII New England qualifying mark of 14.09 meters to set a new school record, while adding a second-place finish in the long jump with a DIII NE qualifying mark of 6.53 meters for the Falcons at the Lynn Ruddy Invitational. The Worcester native currently ranks 27th in the nation in the triple jump.
Monette placed fourth in the weight throw with a PR toss of 12.58 meters, while finishing fifth in the shot put with a throw of 11.02
meters on Saturday.
The Falcons return to ac
tion Saturday as they compete at the 2023 DIII New
England Championships, hosted by Umass Boston.