Men's Basketball's Comeback Falls Short in ECAC Quarterfinal
Leicester, Mass. - Fourth seeded Becker College held on to defeat fifth seeded Framingham State 77-75 in one quarterfinal of the ECAC New England Men's Basketball tournament tonight at Becker. The Rams season ends with the loss as they finish the year 16-11.
Becker opened the game on a 15-2 run and the Hawks took a 41-29 lead at halftime. Junior Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) carried the Hawks with 11 points in the first half, while Matt Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.) went three for three from beyond the arc.
In the second half the Rams came charging back, as Becker Blew a 16 point lead. With the Hawks ahead 64-48, Framingham went a 9-0 run, cutting the Hawks advantage to just seven points.
The Hawks held a slim lead until Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) scored a layup with 3:45 remaining in the game, tying the game at 71 all. The two teams went back and forth until the final seconds of the game when Trae Jacobs (Lexington Park, MD) was fouled in the paint with three seconds remaining. Jacobs hit both free throws and the Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC tournament.
Framingham State senior forward Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.) led all scorers with 26 points, 19 of those coming in the second half. Senior guard Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.) scored 18 points, going three for six from three point range, while junior guard Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass) chipped in 12 points.
Four out of five Becker starters finished in double figures. Leggett scored 13 points and pulled down game-high 14 rebounds, to earn a double-double. Junior point guard DeJohn Joseph-Exum (New London, Conn.) led the Hawks with 14 points, while Jacobs had 13 points and Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass) added 11 points in the victory. Matt Petrides came off the bench to score 13 points, going four for four from three point range.
With the win the Hawks improved to 19-9 on the season and will travel to Eastern Connecticut State (19-9) for the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament on Friday at 4p.m., with the finals of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Release courtesy of Becker Sports Information.