Men's Basketball Comes From Behind to Defeat Salem State
Salem, Mass. - Senior forward Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.)
scored a game-high 23 points and junior guard Royce Veal
(Dorchester, Mass.) added 22, as Framingham State overcame a
seven-point deficit to beat Salem State 74-67 Tuesday night at
Twohig Gymnasium. The Rams improved to 6-8 on the season and 2-2 in
Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play.
Salem State dropped its first league contest and fell to 3-12,
2-1.
The Vikings took a 38-33 lead into the halftime locker room and
expanded it to 42-35 thanks to a pair of buckets by Brian Clark
(Deerfield, Mass.) in the opening minutes of the second half. But
Framingham State roared back, ripping off a 17-3 run to take a
seven-point lead of its own. Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.)
tallied a pair of fast-break hoops, and Almodovar added a pair of
jumpers and two free throws to fuel the surge.
SSC clawed back and cut the deficit to one, 57-56, after a Clark
jumper with just over seven minutes remaining, but Almodovar's
lay-in and a three-pointer by Billy Carey (Abington, Mass.)
expanded the lead back to seven, 63-56. The Vikings would get no
closer the rest of the way, as the Rams hit 5-6 free throws in the
final minute to seal the game.
Clark finished with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting to lead the
Vikings, while Tristan Shannon (Andover, Mass.) added 12 and a
game-high 10 rebounds. Nick Linear (Salem, Mass.) was the third SSC
player to reach double figures, finishing with 11 points.
Senior forward Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) added 12 for
the Rams, while Yarrell finished with nine points. SSC shot 38%
from the floor and was just 12-24 from the free-throw line.
Framingham State connected on 43% of its shots, and was 21-27
(77.8%) from the line.
The Rams led throughout the first half, with a lead as large as
five, 25-20 with six minutes remaining. Clark scored seven of the
Vikings' next nine points, as Salem State pulled even, 29-29.
Shannon and Nate Simpson (Lowell, Mass.) gave SSC its first lead of
the game when they each converted a pair of free throws.
Buckets by Brian Marvie (Worcester, Mass.) and Simpson gave the
Vikings a 38-33 halftime advantage.
The Vikings return to action Tuesday night when they host Fitchburg
State at 8 p.m., while the Rams host MCLA on Thursday night at 7:30
p.m.
Release courtesy of SSC Sports Information.