Fitchburg, Mass. – Rookie Daris Cosby (Columbia, S.C../Richland Northeast) provided a huge spark off the bench tying the team hihg with 16 points while guard Chris Voukides (Salem, N.H./Salem)added 16 and the Eagles shot just under 50-percent on the day on the way to a solid 22-point win at Fitchburg State Saturday afternoon.
Junior Zach Valliere (Douglas, Mass./Douglas) registered his first double-double of the season to pace Fitchburg State (1-6).
Valliere notched a strong afternoon, posting a game-high 18 points to go with ten rebounds and one block. The junior big man shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, while hitting 6-of-10 from the charity stripe. Classmate Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) also connected for double-figures with 14 points (9-of-14 FT), while senior Elliot Knower (Baldwinville, Mass./Narragansett) added nine points, seven boards and one steal.
On the visitors' side, Voukides was strong, hitting 5-of-12 from the floor, while Cosby finished 5-of-6 on the afternoon and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Keith Speed (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) chipped in with 15 points to round out the Eagles top scorers.
Daniel Webster (4-2) controlled the ball from the opening tip, grabbing a 13 point lead at the end of the first half. The Eagles raced out to an early eight point advantage (11-3) using a pair of buckets from Jonathan Smalls (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) and three pointer from Speed for a 9-0 run. Daniel Webster maintained a four basket margin for most of the period before jumping out to a commanding 17 point lead with 2:44 remaining in the half. Speed and Cosby paced the Eagles with eight points apiece in the frame, while Kimber totaled eight for the Falcons.
In the second half, play became chippy with both teams combining 29 fouls in the stanza. Daniel Webster took advantage of its opportunities at the charity stripe, hitting 12-of-19 in the period, while Fitchburg State shot only 51.6% at the line (16-of-31).
Hampered by some tough three-point shooting (1-12), Fitchburg State saw its 13 point, half-time deficit increase to 20 midway through the frame. The Eagles used a trio of long range shots by Voukides, John Hickson (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) and Chris Hanson (Salem, Mass./Salem) to grab a 71-51 lead at the 8:27 mark and later notched a 12-5 run to take a 26 point lead with just under five minutes remaining.
Daniel Webster shot well, hitting 30 of its 63 attempts from the field, but its 12-of-28 shooting from three point range prove to be the difference in earning their fourth victory of the season. Fitchburg State controlled the boards with a 48-39 rebound margin, but could not take advantage of its extra opportunities, shooting just 26-of-46 from the line and 3-of-21 from three point range.
Daniel Webster will host Mitchell College on Tuesday in its NECC opener at 7 p.m.