Men's Basketball Holds on for 78-74 Win over Worcester State
Framingham, MA - The Framingham State College men's basketball team held off a late second half comeback by the Worcester State Lancers to pick up a 78-74 win this evening in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Framingham's Athletic Center. With the win the Rams improve to 12-10 on the season and 4-5 in conference, while the Lancers slip to .500 at 11-11 overall and 4-5 in the MASCAC.
Framingham junior forward Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, MA) led all players with a game-high 25 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field. Jackson also grabbed a team-high eight boards. Classmates Darius Yarrell (Brockton, MA) and Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, MA) chipped in 15 points apiece for the Rams. Yarrell connected on 3-of-4 from three point range and handed out a game-high seven assists. Almodovar, who now has 1,102 points in his career, continues to climb the FSC All-Time Scoring list and moved into the 10th spot with his effort today.
The Lancers were led by junior forward Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI) who scored a team-high 24 points, grabbed six boards and handed out six assists. Junior guard Brandon Fortes (Pawtucket, RI) chipped in 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, while freshman Raheem Lewis (Whitinsville, MA) added 12 points and five steals.
The Rams shot 52% from the floor in the first half and 44% from three point range as they opened up a 43-27 lead at the break. They extended that lead to as many as 23 points in the second half (56-33) with 11:49 left in the game.
Worcester State chipped away at the Rams lead and trailed by only seven (72-65) with 1:26 and pulled as close as two points at 76-74 on a layup by Horton with ten seconds remaining. The Lancers were forced to foul and Yarrell sank both to seal the win for the Rams.
The Rams return to action on Tuesday night as they travel to Salem State at 8 p.m. while the Lancers host Fitchburg State on Tuesday at 8 p.m.