Salem State Hands Fitchburg State 91-78 Loss, Bryan Become All-Time Assists Leader

SALEM, Mass. – Chris MacDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) scored a season-high 20 points and Josiah Green (Springfield, Mass.) added 18 off the bench as Salem State handed Fitchburg State a 91-78 loss on Wednesday evening at Twohig Gymnasium. The Vikings up their record to 12-9 overall and 8-2 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Conference. The Falcons are now 5-15 and 3-6 in the league.

Sean Bryan (Lowell, Mass.) connected for 18 points and chipped in with six boards. Bryan's four assists now put him first all-time at Salem State with 452, surpassing Tishaun Jenkins '00, who held the previous mark with 449. Salem State with Jarret Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) and Conner Byrne combined for 25 points and 17 rebounds in the win for Salem State.

Nathaniel Semedo (Bridgewater, Mass.) led Fitchburg State with 21 points. Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.) netted 15 points and secured 12 rebounds while Trevian Hinson (Tampa, Fla.) finished with 13 points.

MacDonald scored 13 first half points going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to help stake Salem State to a 47-37 first half lead. The Vikings opened up an early 9-2 advantage behind five points from MacDonald. A three by Fitchburg State's Semedo cut the deficit to six points, but back-to-back buckets by Conner Byrne and Bryan pushed the lead to double-digits, 36-25 with 4:50 remaining. Two free throws by Deven Okowuga (Lowell, Mass.) gave the Vikings their largest lead of the half, 47-33, with 1:06 left before halftime. Taylor, who had 11 first half points for the Falcons, and Semedo both scored late to draw Fitchburg State to within 10, 47-37 at the break.

Josiah Green had 11 points for Salem State, which shot 19-of-35 (54.3%) from the floor.  The Falcons were 16-of-36 (44.4%) from the field in the first half.   

Salem State maintained control of the game in the second half. Bryan, who had 12 points after halftime converted two free throws to maintain a 10-point advantage for the Vikings early in the second half. Later, a jumper by Hinson cut the lead to six points, but the Vikings answered with a 9-2 run, highlighted by five straight points by Conner Byrne. The Falcons would never get any closer and a layup by Jarret Byrne made the score 84-64 in favor of Salem State, giving the Vikings its largest margin with 3:34 to go.  Salem State emptied their bench before winning 91-78.

The Vikings went 21-of-24 from the free throw line as Bryan connected on all eight free throw attempts.  MacDonald went 7-of-9 (77.7%) from field, including a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range as Salem State finished 31-of-65 (47.7%) from the field. Semedo connected on 9-of-18 field goal attempts for the Falcons, who finished the game 33-of-71 (46.5%) from the floor.