BOSTON, MA - In a physical, hard-fought game, the Villa Maria Vikings used a big second-half run to pull away from the Fisher College Falcons and pick up an 89-81 road Victory on Friday evening.

Villa and Fisher traded leads early before the Vikings were able to take a 42-40 lead into the break.  Fisher opened the second half with more energy and erased the deficit to lead by nine with just under 11 minutes left.  It was then that Villa's run began.

Sophomore Daniel Thompson got the run going with a three before hitting another one 28 seconds later to get within five, 66-61.  After Fisher answered with a bucket, Thompson stayed hot, drilling another triple to make it 68-64.  After a steal by junior Jay Scarbrough and finish by senior Justin Stokes, Thompson gave Villa a 69-68 with his fourth triple in just over two minutes. 

Thompson then came up with a steal which turned into two points and with 6:14 left, Villa was ahead by eight, finishing a 21-4 run.  Thompson finished with 13 points.

The Vikings were led in scoring by junior Dominic Douglas who finished with 21.  Scarbrough finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and five assists off the bench.  Junior DeJaun Owens scored 15 and freshman Lonnie Taylor scored 10 as five players scored in double-figures.

Villa - who came into the game ranked second in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll - improves to 15-3 on the season and 4-0 in NIAC play.

BOX SCORE
Villa Maria Vikings (15-3, 4-0 NIAC)            42 - 47 -- 89
Fisher Falcons (5-13, 2-3 NIAC)                  40 - 41 -- 81

INSIDE THE BOX
* Villa finished with 25 assists on 30 made baskets
* Villa was 7-15 (46.7%)from three and held Fisher to 4-16 (25%) from long range
* Villa forced 20 turnovers which led directly to 18 points
* Fisher edged out Villa in points in the paint (42-30)
* The rebounding edge went to the Vikings (43-39) 
* Villa had 13 steals
* Villa shot 22-28 (78.6%) from the free throw line while Fisher was 9-17 (52.9)
* Fisher had 18 second chance points to Villa's 14
* Villa's largest lead was 11 while Fisher's was nine
* Villa's bench outscored Fisher's 37-24
* Eight players played double-figure minutes for the Vikings

WHAT THEY SAID
HC Don Silveri: "We battled some adversity in the second half but our guys handled it and overcame it.  Danny (Thompson) was huge fueling that second half run and defensively Kevin (Ford) and Jay (Scarbrough) were excellent.  It's always good to get a road win against a quality opponent."

UP NEXT
Villa will finish it's road trip with a game against College of St. Joseph (VT.) on Saturday at 6 p.m.  The game will be played at Southern Vermont College after the Fighting Saints' gym suffered recent damage.

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