Courtesy: Fayetteville State University
FAYETTEVILLE, NC —Tairell Fletcher, Caleb Simmons and Myles Pierre each notched at least 20 points to help lead the Fayetteville State men’s basketball team, a North Carolina HBCU, race past Carolina Christian 135-65 at home Saturday. The game was the final of the regular season for the CIAA Southern Division Champions.
The Broncos final score of 135-65 broke an all-time school scoring record that has been held since 1980. This win also awarded Head Coach Luke D’Alessio with his 300th career winning game.
The Broncos (21-7) had five players score in double figures, led by Fletcher, who recorded a double-double with 24 points and 10 assists. Simmons added 22 points, seven rebounds and two steals and Pierre helped out with 21 points off the bench.
Fayetteville State shared the ball well in Saturday’s non CIAA contest, racking up 20 assists on 53 made field goals. Fletcher’s 10 assists paced the Broncos and Marcus Elliott also added three assists of his own.
The Broncos forced 15 turnovers while committing only six themselves in Saturday’s game. The Broncos turned those takeaways into 32 points on the other end of the floor. Ezekiel Cannedy led the way individually with four steals.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 25-9 advantage, Fayetteville State went on a 10-0 run with 12:59 left in the first half to increase its lead to 35-9. The Broncos then added 16 points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 71-29 advantage. Fayetteville State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down 13 shots to account for 39 of its 71 points.
Following intermission, FSU kept widening that lead, expanding it to 99-49 before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Cannedy’s layup, to grow the lead to 106-49 with 10:22 to go in the basketball game. The Broncos kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 135-65 win. FSU took care of business in the paint, recording 38 of its 64 points in the lane.
FSU now moves on to the CIAA Tournament, the storied HBCU basketball tournament which tips off in Baltimore, Maryland on Monday.
Game Notes» Tairell Fletcher notched a double-double for the Broncos with 24 points and 10 assists.
» The Broncos made over half of their attempts from three point range, knocking down 21 of 38 shots.
» Fayetteville State never trailed on the way to a 135-65 victory.
» Fayetteville State tallied 20 total assists in the game.
» Tairell Fletcher collected 10 assists for Fayetteville State.
» Myles Pierre was lethal from behind the three point line, knocking down seven treys.
» The Fayetteville State bench made an impact by adding 61 points to its scoring output.
» Five Fayetteville State players scored 10 or more points.
» Myles Pierre and Jayden Beloti came off the bench to score 21 and 14 points, respectively.
» The Broncos turned 15 turnovers into 32 points on the offensive end.
» Fayetteville St. shot 66 percent from the field to economically reach their 135 point total.
» Fayetteville State had a 47-26 edge on the boards in the win.
» The Fayetteville State defense forced 15 turnovers.
» Fayetteville State turned the ball over six times while dishing out 20 assists.
» The Broncos had three players score over 20 points in the contest. Tairell Fletcher led the way with 24 points, Caleb Simmons had 22, and Myles Pierre added 21.
» Fayetteville State got a game-high eight rebounds from Javon Floyd.