Men’s Basketball Team Selected for ECAC Tournament
Framingham, Mass. - The Framingham State College men's basketball team has been selected to participate in the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Men's Basketball Tournament as the fifth seed. The fifth seeded Rams will travel to fourth seed Becker College on Wednesday night, March 3rd, at 7 p.m. in one quarterfinal matchup.
The Rams earn their second straight selection to the tournament in a game that is a rematch of the 4/5 game from the tournament a year ago when the Hawks defeated Framingham State.
Framingham State (16-10) finished the regular season second in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with a 9-3 conference record. The Rams, the second seed in the MASCAC Tournament, defeated Salem State in the Semifinals before falling to top seed Bridgewater State in overtime in the Championship Game.
The Rams have been led by a strong senior class this season that includes three-time All-MASCAC First Team selection Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.). Almodovar averaged 17.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this season and he moved into second on the FSC All-Time points list. Fellow senior, point guard Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.), who was a second team selection, led the Rams averaging 4.2 assists per game and 10.5 points. Center Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) averaged 11 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and led the Rams in shot blocks, while guard Billy Carey (Abington, Mass.) shot 35.5% from three point range as he averaged 8.4 points a contest.
Becker College (19-8, 13-1 NECC) was the number one seed in the NECC Tournament where they were defeated by Elms College in the finals. The Hawks are led by the trio of First Team All-NECC selection Rajai Leggett and second team selections sophomore Terrance Favors and junior Trea Jacobs. Leggett averaged 15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, while Favors averaged 14.6 point and 3.4 assists a contest. Jacobs also averaged double figures at 14.1 points per game.
Rounding out the tournament field are (#1) Eastern Connecticut who hosts (#8) Wentworth, (#2) Elms College who will host (#7) Curry College, and (#3) Plymouth State University who hosts (#6) Husson. The quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday night with the tournament concluding on Saturday and Sunday with the semifinals and finals at the highest remaining seed.