FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- The third-ranked Fairmont State men's basketball team used a first-half scoring spree for the second-consecutive game as the Falcons powered past visiting Urbana, 99-81, on Monday night in Mountain East Conference action at Joe Retton Arena. After scoring 57 points on Saturday evening against Notre Dame College in the opening half, the Falcons bucketed 62 points in the opening 20 minutes of action tonight to roll to their ninth win in a row.

The Falcons, now 15-1 overall and 9-1 in the Mountain East, are currently in a three-way tie for first-place in the MEC standings after top-ranked West Liberty fell at Concord this evening, 108-93. FSU, WLU and Wheeling Jesuit all have just one MEC loss this season and the Hilltoppers and Cardinals will face-off on Thursday evening in Wheeling.

Fairmont State shot 62.5 percent in the opening half (25-of-40) and finished the game shooting 59 percent (36-of-61). The Falcons also drained 11 threes and outrebounded the Blue Knights by 10 (43-33) in the victory. FSU also did a good job sharing the basketball in the win, recording 25 assists on 36 made field goals.

Fairmont State's offensive attack was led by Chase Connor with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from behind the arc. Thomas Wimbush (15 points and eight rebounds) and Matt Bingaya (14 points and eight rebounds) just missed double doubles. Caleb Davis also came off the bench to chip in 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Jason Jolly added 10 points, four rebounds and five assists. Shammgod Wells passed out a team-best six assists.

Fairmont State turned the ball over a season-high 28 times in the game. It is just the second time this season that FSU has committed 20 turnovers in a game (22 vs. Bowie State).

The also teams combined for 45 fouls and 98 points were scored in the painted area on the evening (FSU held a 50-48 advantage). Fairmont State also got 55 points from its bench in the win.

Urbana attempted to chip away at Fairmont State's advantage in the second half but couldn't get closer than 15 points, 76-61, with 10:25 remaining in the game. Fairmont State led by as many as 25 in the early stages of the second half.

For the game, Urbana was limited to just 38.7 percent from the field (29-of-75) and made just 4-of-20 three-point attempts. Urbana was solid from the foul line, draining 19-of-22 attempts (86.4%).

Five players reached double-figures for Urbana, led by Mike Newton with 18 points. UU also got 13 from Austin Adams, 12 from Carlos Jackson and 10 each from Colin Curran and Jahmere Howze.

The Falcons will play their third-straight home game on Thursday evening when the Rams from Shepherd University invade Joe Retton Arena at 7:30 p.m.