Men’s Basketball Runs Past Fitchburg State
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State men's basketball team picked up big performances by senior Manny Payton (Fitchburg, Mass.) and junior Charles Valbrun (Hyde Park, Mass.) as the Rams defeated Fitchburg State by a score of 64-56 in MASCAC action Saturday afternoon in Framingham. With the win the Rams improve to 6-14 and 2-5 in the MASCAC while the Falcons drop to 7-12 in league play.
Valbrun scored the first six points of the contest and twelve in the first half finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds shooting 8-for-9 from the floor and 3-of-4 from long-range. Payton led all players with 22 points, five boards and an assist.
Falcons received 19 points from Tyrell St. John (Stanford, Conn.) and 15 points off the bench from Joshua Bostworth (Springfield, Mass.).
Valbrun hit a trey late in the period to push the Rams lead to as much as eight early. After the Falcons battled back a Payton jumper with 30 seconds to in the half sent the Rams into the break up five, 30-25.
Fitchburg took the lead early in the second half on a Nicholas Tracy (Indianapols, Ind.) free-throw but Rams spun off a 14-to-4 run capped by a Payton trey to take a nine point lead a little over halfway through the second. The Falcons would cut the deficit back to five but the Rams answered stretching the margin to as much as 13 in the closing minutes.
The visitors shot 31.6 percent from the field and 20 percent from long-range. The Rams countered with 44 percent from the floor and 46 percent from beyond the arc.
The Rams are return to the court when they travel to Worcester State on Wednesday, January 31st. The Falcons host Salem State on the same day in MASCAC action.