Manyak's Last Second Bucket Lifts Men's Basketball Past Fitchburg State 68-67

Fitchburg, Mass. – Sophomore Trevor Manyak (Bolton, Mass.) scored a put back with 55 seconds left to play to propel the Framingham State University men's basketball team to a 68-67 victory over Fitchburg State University this afternoon in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Parkinson Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS:

- Score:  Framingham State 68, Fitchburg State 67

- Records: Framingham State (5-14, 4-3 MASCAC), Fitchburg State (8-11, 3-4 MASCAC)

- Location: Parkinson Gymnasium – Fitchburg, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Rams opened the contest with a 12-2 run. Sophomore Cameren McCloud-Thomas (Springfield, Mass.) and Manyak each added four points in the streak.
• Fitchburg State answered with back-to-back treys from Andres Ruff (Chicago, Ill.) and Jonathan Perez (Lowell, Mass.) to give the Falcons their first lead of the game (16-15). 
• The Rams pushed the lead to 23-18 when McCloud-Thomas and Khaneil Bruce (Cambridge, Mass.) each connected on baskets. The visitors held the largest lead (43-28) of the half with six points from Manyak and a lay-in from Tomas Donoyan (Belmont, Mass.) with 4:43 to play.
• Six straight points from Perez and strong defense from the Falcons had the hosts trailing 45-37 at intermission.
• Five minutes into the second stanza and trailing 51-44, the green and gold reeled off a three point play and layup from Tyrell St. John (Stamford, Conn.) to cut the deficit to 51-49.
• However, the Rams held tight and built the lead back to 57-51 when junior Tyri Hampton (Fitchburg, Mass.) put back an offensive rebound.
• Still down by six points with eight minutes to play the Falcons ripped off seven consecutive points and took their first lead of the frame (62-61) after a pair from the charity stripe from St. John.
• The teams see-sawed down the stretch. Two trips later the Rams' Hampton put the Rams up by one (63-62) and St. John countered for the Falcons.
• With three minutes to play the score was knotted 64-64. Senior Anselm Edegbe (Benin, Nigeria) drilled a jumper from inside the key to give the Falcons the lead 67-66 at the 1:45 mark.
• Manyak grabbed an offensive rebound and snuck a basket from underneath for the game-winner (68-67) with 55 seconds to play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Senior guard Manny Payton (Fitchburg, Mass.) posted a team-high 19 points on seven-of-12 from the floor with three rebounds, six assists and a steal for the Rams, while McCloud-Thomas finished the game with 14 points and five boards.
• Manyak finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Hampton also finished with double digits added 10 points.
• Fitchburg State was led by St. John with a team-best 25 points and four rebounds, while Perez added eighteen points for the Green and Gold.

UP NEXT:                   

The Rams are back in action Wednesday when they host Worcester State for a MASCAC contest at 6 p.m.