Men's Basketball Falls Short Against Salem State

Framingham, MA - Junior Dylan Holmes (Groton, MA) and senior Marquis Victor (Lawrence, MA) scored 22 and 20 points respectively to lift the Salem State College men's basketball team to an 85-73 road win today over the host Framingham State Rams. With the win, Salem improves to 6-3 in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action and 16-6 overall, while the Rams fall to 11-12 overall and 6-4 in the MASCAC.

Salem State opened up a nine point half time lead as they were on fire from the floor. The Vikings connected on 20 of 33 shots from the floor in the first half (60.6%).  The Rams also shot well in the first half as they connected on 14 of 28 from the field.  Victor was 4 for 7 from the field in the first half to lead the Vikings with 10 points.

The Vikings cooled off in the second half as they only shot 40% from the floor, while the Rams shot 38%.  The Rams cut the deficit to five in the opening minutes of the second half, before the Vikings used a 12-0 run to open up a 17 point lead (60-43) with 14:28 remaining in the game.  The Rams would have one run left in them as a three pointer by sophomore Darius Yarrell (Brockton, MA) started a 17-6 run by the Rams that cut the deficit to 66-60 with 8:36 remaining.  That was as close as the Rams would come as the Vikings led by Holmes and Victor extended the lead back to 13 and were able to hang on for the win down the stretch.

Holmes finished the day 10 of 14 from the floor for 22 points to go along with eight boards and two blocks.  Victor finished the day 5 of 12 from the floor and 10 of 12 from the line for his 20 points.  He also handed out five assists and grabbed five boards.

The Rams were led by freshman Michael Hines (Boston, MA) who picked up a game-high 25 points on 10 of 15 from the field.  Sophomore Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, MA) chipped in 17 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals, while senior Michael Costa (Holbrook, MA) chipped in 10 points.

Both teams return to MASCAC action as the Rams travel to Fitchburg State on Tuesday and the Viking travel to MCLA on Monday.