Men's Basketball Comeback Falls Short Against Salem State

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• The Rams were led offensively by a double double effort from J.D. Okafor. Okafor tallied a game-high 25 points on 12-of-23 from the floor and grabbed a game-best 12 boards, while adding two assists, a steal and a block. 

• Jahden Erold chipped in with 10 points off the bench for the Rams to go along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. 

• Deven Okowuga led four Vikings in double figures with his team-best 22 points on 8-of-14 from the floor. He added six boards, two assists and a steal. 

• Chris MacDonald chipped in with 17 points as he connected on 4-of-8 from long range and added four rebounds and a pair of steals. 

• Conner Byrne finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Josiah Green finished with 11 points off the bench. 

• Prior to the game, the Rams honored their four seniors – Trevor Manyak, Tarik Rivers, Josh Dumay and Keith Hollman – during Senior Night. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• The Rams opened the game with six straight points from Okafor before the Vikings answered with five straight pulling within one just under two minutes into the game. 

• The two teams traded points until a Green jumper gave the Vikings their first lead of the game, 19-17, midway through the half. 

• A pair of Erold free throws pulled the Rams within one, 23-22, with 6:13 on the clock. The Vikings answered with seven straight pushing the lead to 30-22 on a MacDonald three with just under five to play. 

• An Erold layup cut the deficit down to six before an Okowuga three pushed the lead back nine and the Vikings headed to the locker leading 37-28. 

• The Vikings opened the second half with a 13-4 run taking a 50-32 lead just under three minutes into the frame. 

• Salem State led 58-39 with 12:13 remaining in the half, but the Rams used an 11-0 run fueled by seven points from Okafor to cut the deficit to 58-50 with 9:27 remaining. 

• MacDonald broke the scoring drought for the Vikings when he sank one of two free throws with 8:03 on the clock that pushed the lead back nine. 

• The Rams pulled within six, 61-55, on a three-point play from Keith Hollman with just over six to play before Salem once again pushed the lead to nine with just over five to play. 

• The Rams closed the gap to five, 66-61, on a Manyak layup with 3:33 on the clock, but Salem used an 8-0 run capped by a dunk from Conner Byrne to seal the victory.