Strong Second Half Pushes WPI Past Men’s Basketball 69-52
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University men's basketball team was defeated at home tonight 69-52 by WPI in non-conference action at the Athletic Center.
With the win, the Engineers improve to 5-1 on the year, while the Rams are now 2-4.
In the opening stanza, the game was back and forth with two ties and six lead changes. The Rams led 13-12 after a pair of Patrick Gould (Quincy, Mass.) free throws with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half, but the Engineers rattled off five straight points to regain the lead. The Rams cut the deficit to one on a pair of occasions, but the Engineers close the half with a run to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room.
The Engineers opened the second half with 12-2 run capped by a jumper from Jamani Spencer (Closter, NJ) to take a 46-31 advantage, but the Rams countered with a run of their own fueled by three trifectas from freshman Steve Vayda (Oxford, Mass.) to pull within seven (54-47) at the 8:30 mark. The Engineers used a 6-0 spurt to push the lead back to double figures where it would stay for the remainder of the contest.
The Rams were led offensively by 14 points from senior Wesley Ogbevoen (Boston, Mass.), while Vayda added 11 off the bench shooting 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Freshman Tyri Hampton (Fitchburg, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.
The Engineers were paced by a game-best 16 points on 7-of-13 from the floor by Jake Wisniewski (West Brookfield, Mass.). Senior Ian Converse (Woodstock, Conn.) added 12 points and eight boards, while Sean Doncaster (Medford, Mass.) and Spencer added 10 apiece.
The Rams are back in action on December 6th at Plymouth State at 7 p.m., while the Engineers travel to Fitchburg State on Saturday at 1 p.m.