Men's Basketball Comes from Ten Down to Beat Curry 71-66
Framingham, MA - The Framingham State College men's basketball team battled back from a ten point second half deficit to pick up a 71-66 non-conference win at home tonight over the visiting Colonels of Curry College. With the win, the Rams improve to 5-7 on the season, while the Colonels slide to 4-8 on the year.
After leading at the half, the Colonels opened the second half on a 10-6 run to open up a ten point lead with 51-41 with 14:54 remaining in the game. The Rams responded with a 10-2 run of their own capped by a three pointer by freshman Royce Veal (Dorchester, MA) and a layup by Michael Hines (Boston, MA) to cut the Colonels lead to two at 53-51 with 11:30 remaining in the game.
The two teams would go back and forth over the next seven minutes with the Colonels using their size advantage to stay in the lead and the Rams using their outside shooting to stay within striking distance. The Rams finally were able to take the lead with 3:45 remaining in the game on a jumper by Rob Scarpato (Hopkinton, MA), but the Colonels responded and took the lead back at 66-65 on a jumper by Tim Jones (Brookline, MA). Sophomore Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, MA), who finished the game with 17 points and nine rebounds, drove the paint for a tough layup to put the Rams ahead for good at 67-66 with 2:56 remaining. Almodovar would put the Rams ahead by four (70-66) with under a minute to play as he hit an acrobatic layup with the shot clock winding down.
The Colonels controlled the game inside all day as they rejected nine Rams shots on the night and held a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint. Senior Johnathan Bowers (Kalamazoo, MI) led the Colonels with a team-high 18 points, six rebounds and five blocks, while fellow forward Marvin Lamarre (Hyde Park, MA) chipped in six points, 10 boards and four blocks.
The Rams were led by sophomore sharpshooter Bill Carey (Abington, MA), who picked up a game-high 21 points on 6 of 7 shooting from behind the arc, and Scarpato who finished the day with 14 points on 7 of 15 shooting and rebounds rebounds.
The Framingham State Rams return to action on Thursday January 10th, 2008 as they travel to Rhode Island College at 7 p.m., while the Colonels travel to Western New England on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off.