Ruff, Francis lead Men's Basketball to Tip-Off Tournament Finals

(Nashua, N.H.) The Muldoon Gymnasium was the site for the 21st annual Rivier University Men's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament. Both the Raiders of Rivier University and the Fitchburg State University Falcons were able to advance to the Championship Game tomorrow afternoon as they earned first round victories.

The opening game of the tournament featured Fitchburg State vs. Colby-Sawyer College. The game was evenly matched as the Falcons held a slim 38-35 lead at halftime. However Fitchburg State would use a 45 point second half surge to pull away with the 83-72 win.

Juniors Keyon Armstrong (Brockton, Mass.) and Kwame Lee (Holyoke, Mass.) led the offensive attack for Fitchburg State as they scored 15 and 14 points respectively. Two other Falcons were able to reach the double-digit point plateau as junior Givaughn Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) added 13 points and classmate Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, N.H.) had 12 points off the bench.

Colby-Sawyer was led by senior Mike Dias (Carver, Mass.) who had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Dias also shot 8-for-12 in a reserve effort to keep the Chargers in the hunt for most of the game. Senior Zach Bean (Scarborough, Maine) knocked down three 3-pointers as he finished with 13 points and junior Peter Donato (Portland, Maine) was 5-for-9 from the floor, finishing with 12 points.

On their home floor for the first time this season, the Raiders were able to hold off a scrappy, tough Albany College of Pharmacy squad, 58-56. Freshman Andre Ruff (Lowell, Mass.) led the way with 16 points, including four 3-pointers and sophomore Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.) provided help with 12 points for the win. Senior Jake Nelson (Nashua, N.H.) pulled down a team high 7 rebounds while dishing out four assists.

The Panthers, who held a 31-27 lead at halftime, was paced by freshman Brandon Votra. Votra collected the day's only double-double as he had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Junior David Mcentee was the leading scorer with 18 points and freshman Emmanuel Okafor pulled down 8 rebounds in the two point loss.

Albany College of Pharmacy (2-3) will square off against Colby-Sawyer College (1-2) tomorrow in the tournament consolation game beginning at 12pm. Rivier (1-2) will battle Fitchburg State (4-0) for the Tournament Championship at 2pm.