Men’s Basketball Defeats Conference Leader Westfield State 73-69

Framingham, Mass. – Freshman forward Andre Santana (Worcester, Mass.) led four Rams in double figures as the Framingham State University men's basketball team overcame a 13-point first half deficit to defeat conference leader Westfield State 73-69 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's basketball action tonight at Framingham's Athletic Center.

With the win, the Rams improve to 7-11 on the season and 1-5 in the MASCAC, while the Owls slide to 11-7 overall and 3-2 in conference.

Westfield State controlled the game early taking a 7-0 lead just under three minutes in and extended their lead to 15-4 12:41 with left in the first.  The Owls capitalized on five Ram turnovers in the opening minutes and took advantage of the Rams poor shooting as they hit 1-of their first-6 from the field.

The Owls maintained the lead and took the game's largest advantage – 13 points – midway through on a jumper from senior center Marcellus Lee (Quincy, Mass.)., but the Rams chipped away at the lead and pulled within three (36-33) in the closing minute on a pair of lay-ins from sophomores Yemi Ajoa (Randolph, Mass.) and Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.).

The Owls opened the second half with buckets from junior Matt Devine (Pembroke, Mass.) and Lee before a three from junior Rico DePaolis and a Jamie Henderson (Duncanville, TX) free throw cut the Rams deficit to two (40-38).  The game would be tied four times over the next seven minutes, but each time the Owls would retake a small lead. 

Trailing by one (50-49), the Rams finally took their first lead of the game on an Allen Saint-Surin (Brockton, Mass.) jumper in the paint with 8:42 remaining that started the hosts on a 10-2 run.  The run was capped by back-to-back lay-ups from Santana that gave the Rams a 59-52 lead with 5:47 left in the game.

The Owls pulled within four on a Devine bucket in the paint with 2:37 remaining, but the Rams answered with a three from freshman guard Ryan Putney (Burlington, Mass.) to push the advantage back to seven (66-59) with 1:27 left.  A slew of fouls were called on both teams in the final minute of action and the Rams went 7-for-8 from the line to seal the win.

The game was physical throughout with each team having four players foul out and a total of 80 free throws were taken in the game.  The Owls shot 52.3% (23-44) from the line for the game, while the Rams shot 22-of-36 (61.1%).

Santana led all scorers with a game-high 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field to go along with seven boards.  Putney scored a career-high 13 points including sinking 8-of-10 from the line, while Figueroa and Ajao each finished with 12.

The Owls were led by Devine and freshman Grant Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) who tallied 13 points apiece.  Cooper had eight boards and three assists to go along with his 13, while Lee finished with nine points.

The Rams return to action on Tuesday evening when they travel to Colby-Sawyer at 7 p.m., while the Owls host Fitchburg State on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.