Published: November 16, 2008 02:45 am            

Newcomers lead Falcons to victory

FAIRMONT — Last year, Steve Custis and Ian Grady sat, waited and watched Fairmont State's basketball team finished 19-10.

Saturday night, they got their first chance to step on the floor in FSU uniforms and they didn't waste any time taking advantage of the situation.

Custis, a 6-foot, 165-pound redshirt freshman guard from Frederick, Md., scored a team-high 19 points, while Grady, a 6-6, 230-pound senior center from Cumberland, Md., who transferred to FSU in the second semester last year from Shepherd University, added 14 points and nine rebounds to help lead the Falcons to a 102-64 victory in their season opener over Ohio State-Newark in the first round of the Global Science and Technology-Fairmont State Tip-Off Classic at the Joe Retton Arena.

“I couldn't wait for tonight,” said Custis, who also chipped in four rebounds, handed out four assists and blocked a pair of shots in the victory. “I've been so hungry. It felt amazing to be out there. I loved every minute of it.

“Taking the redshirt was the best thing for me, but like I said, I couldn't wait to get on the floor in an actual game.”

Custis and Grady took charge early for the Falcons, who struggled in the first 20 minutes and led the Titans by just eight, 42-34, at the break. Both had 10 first-half points and Grady pulled down seven of his nine rebounds in the opening half.

“I wanted to come out with this being my first game here and start out well,” said Grady. “I thought that was important for me to break the ice so to speak. I just went out, played hard and we all played hard.

“We struggled some in the first half, but coach told us at the break to block out, rebound and get down and play defense. We really didn't do a good job of playing defense in the first half, but we all played a lot better, I thought, in the second half.”

Ohio State-Newark features one of its most talented and athletic teams to take part in the FSU Tip-Off Classic this season and the pesky Titans gave FSU fits early on.

The Falcons struggled shooting in the first half connecting on just 13-of-36 field goals (36.1 percent). FSU senior preseason All-America guard Thad McFadden was ice cold from the field in the early going. He was 0-of-10 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, but rebounded to finish with 15 points thanks largely to an 8-of-8 performance at the foul line. He also tallied a game-high six steals.

“It's the season opener and you always know there's going to be some first-game jitters and you're going to make some mistakes,” said FSU coach Tim Murphy. “In the second half we ironed out a few of our first-half problems and played much better.”

The Falcons doubled up the Titans in the final half, outscoring them 60-30. FSU shot a sizzling 62.2 percent from the floor (23-of-37) in the final 20 minutes.

Fairmont State didn't waste any time taking control of the contest in the second half. The Falcons opened the final 20 minutes with a 13-4 spurt and never looked back en route to the 38-point victory.

Sophomore guard Michael Lopez finished with 12 points for FSU which had 11 of its 12 players who took part in the game score. Senior forward/center Jamal Womble, junior forward Dan Bruner and redshirt freshman guard Chris Thompson all contributed eight points in the victory. Bruner also tied Grady for team-high rebounding honors with nine.

Ohio State-Newark, which fell to 3-1 with the loss, was led by Turrell Morris' game-high 25-point, 11-rebound effort. The Titans also got 12 points from Joel Jackson and 11 from Tykeim Moss.

Action continues today in the classic with Ohio State-Newark and Glenville State squaring off at 2 p.m. Fairmont State will battle West Virginia Wesleyan in the nightcap at 4 p.m. Glenville defeated Wesleyan Saturday night in the opener, 84-69.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.