BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College men's basketball team faced off against Fisher College at home on Saturday, and despite an early deficit, they fought back and used a 56-point second half to defeat the Falcons, 86-78. The win moves the Vikings to 5-3 on the year, and the loss moves Fisher to 1-7 this season.
 
The Vikings got out to a cold start offensively and with nine minutes to play in the first half, the team was down 29-9. They began to heat up on both sides of the ball and chipped away at the deficit starting with a layup by Nolan Shephard. Jeriah Williams added two more layups off of Trent Cordone assists and it shrunk the Fisher lead to 14. A few minutes later, Villa made another push starting with a Cordone three to make the disadvantage 11 and then Rhalon Bragg brought it to single digits with a mid-range jump shot. Williams cut it to seven with an emphatic fast break dunk after stealing the ball from the Falcons. Heading into halftime, the Vikings trailed 39-30.
 
The halftime adjustments made by head coach, Desmond Randall, worked because the team came out with urgency and attacked the Fisher defense. Jerrold Skillon converted back-to-back layups off of back-to-back steals by Shephard to put the Falcons lead at just five. Bragg then scored nine straight points to tie the game at 43-43 with 16:07 to play. The two teams traded leads for a few minutes, then Zamar Harris ignited Villa with a three-point play to go up 52-49. Skillon pushed the lead to five with a layup and with just under ten minutes to play Jaiden Green extended it to seven. Falcons pushed back to keep the game within striking distance, until three straight Bragg jump shots went in put the Vikings ahead 68-56. Fisher began to foul with two minutes to play and with the score at 72-65. Down the stretch, Villa knocked down 12-for-14 from the free-throw line to ice the game and defeat the Falcons by a final score of 86-78.
 
Bragg led the team in scoring with 27 points and collected six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Williams scored 16 off the bench on 7-for-13 shooting, while also impacting the glass with eight rebounds. Skillon and Shephard both finished with double-digit scoring, recording 15 and 12 respectively and combining for 13 rebounds. Cordone was impressive running the offensive, handing out 12 assists to go along with his seven points.
 
The Vikings will be back at home on Monday, December 6 as they host their cross-town rival, Bryant and Stratton Buffalo. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Villa Athletic Center.
 
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Viking's scores and news by following @VillaVikings on Twitter, @villavikings on Instagram and by liking the "Villa Maria Vikings" Facebook page.