Men’s Basketball opens 2025 with loss to NCAA DII Fairmont State

FAIRMONT, W.Va. --- Carlow University men's basketball returned from the holiday break with an 82-61 loss to Fairmont State University on the road Thursday.

Byron Gaskins (Woodbridge, Va./Christ Chapel Academy) led the Celtics with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal. Clayton Cook (Brookville, Pa./Brookville Area HS) added 11 points, and Nehemiah Brazil (Pittsburgh, Pa./Nazareth Prep HS) dished out four assists in the effort. Adnan Sbai (Camp Hill, Pa./East Pennsboro Area HS/Seton Hill University) tallied four of Carlow's six blocks on the day.

After falling behind, 9-0, to begin the game, the Celtics (2-7) slowly chipped away at the Falcons (11-1) lead. An 8-2 Carlow run culminated with a trey from Jordan Cannon (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran East/West Virginia Wesleyan) to see Carlow trailing by two with under nine minutes left in the half. The minuscule gap was short-lived, as a three-pointer extended Fairmont State's advantage to five points, and two turnovers resulted in four fast-break points for the Falcons, now leading 32-23. Fairmont State broke an almost two-minute scoring stalemate with two free throws to put the Falcons ahead by 11 with five minutes left in the half.

The Celtics kept it close throughout the remainder of the half, and Devin Lewis (Warrenton, Va./Fauquier HS/Pitt Bradford) hit a last-second trey to send Carlow into intermission down just nine points.

The Celtics trailed by 10 points midway through the second half before the Falcons went on a 10-2 run that spanned over five-and-a-half minutes, gaining an 18-point advantage over the Celtics with under seven minutes remaining. Fairmont State consistently pulled ahead, extending its lead further the final stretch of the game.

Caio Matos Machado (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Bishop Guilfoyle HS) landed the first three-pointer of his career with two minutes left in regulation, but the Celtics still trailed by double figures as time ran off the clock.

Carlow scored 18 points off 15 Fairmont State turnovers, but the home team had the advantage in other areas, outrebounding the Celtics 56-32 and outscoring Carlow 42-19 off the bench.

Sam Emich led the Falcons with a game-high 19 points, and two other players recorded double-digit points in the win.

The Celtics host Hilbert College for a 2 p.m. AMCC game Jan. 4.