Worcester State Hands Men’s Basketball First MASCAC Loss

Worcester, Mass. - Sophomore Monte Goodwin (Boston, Mass.) tallied a game-best 23 points with six rebounds to propel the Worcester State University men's basketball team to an 89-70 triumph over Framingham State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's basketball action this evening.   

With the win the Lancers up their record to 3-12 and earn their first MASCAC victory of the season (1-2) while the Rams slip to 5-8 and 2-1 in league play.

Senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, Mass.) notched his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a contest-high 15 rebounds while junior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, Mass.) contributed 12 points.   Senior Ryan Testagrossa (Athol, Mass.) and junior Joe LaRoche (Braintree, Mass.) each chipped in with 10 points apiece as Testagrossa also dished out six assists while LaRoche grabbed five boards for WSU.

Junior Marcus Mclaurin (Braintree, Mass.) led Framingham State with 22 points while senior Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass.) had a great all-around game with 17 points and six caroms to go along with four steals and four assists. Freshman Yemi Ajao (Randolph, Mass.) was also in double-figures with 10 points and four rebounds for FSU. Freshman Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.) added nine points off the bench.

Leading 6-5 with 17:25 on the clock, the Lancers used a 13-2 run midway through the opening frame to take a 19-7 lead at the 11:40 mark. Worcester State built up their advantage to 21 points (41-20) before they would end the half with a 41-25 advantage at the intermission.

With WSU ahead 43-27 early in the second, Framingham State outscored the hosts 19-7 in a furious rally to trail 50-48 with 14:08 remaining. The Lancers were ahead by 10 (48-38) at 16:10 before they were held scoreless for a two-minute stretch as sophomore Rico DePaolis (Watertown, Mass.) and Mclaurin each netted treys in the Rams 8-0 spurt.

The Blue and Gold would answer with eight consecutive points to put the lead back into double-digits midway through the frame (58-48).

Framingham State pulled within six points three times over the next two minutes and trailed by eight with 7:59 left to play (65-57) before Worcester State went on a 19-8 run to close out the game. The Lancers used an aggressive transition game and took advantage of the Rams short bench.

The Lancers dominated the glass as they nearly doubled up the visitors in the rebounding column (44-26) while they also controlled the paint (50-34). WSU also led in second chance points (16-11) and fast-break points (25-19).

The Blue and Gold shot 52 percent for the game (30-for-58) while the Rams shot only 29% in the first half ( 8-for-28) and 49 percent from the field in the second period (17-for-37).  The two squads combined to score 93 points in the second stanza alone.

Both teams return to MASCAC play on Tuesday night at 7:30. Worcester State travels north to Fitchburg State while the Rams will entertain Salem State.