Men's Basketball Earns Hard Fought 68-60 MASCAC Victory over Fitchburg State

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• Okafor led all scorers with his game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 from the floor to go along with seven boards, an assist, a steal and two blocks. 

• Brett Okundaye chipped in with 13 points off the bench for the Rams as he connected on 6-of-9 with four boards and a block. 

• Javaris Hill also tallied double figures off the bench for the Rams with 12 points also on 6-of-9 from the floor. He added four boards, three assists, a steal and a block. 

• Fitchburg State was led by Nathaniel Semedo with a team-leading 14 points while Quincy Taylor added 4 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. 

• Fitchburg State went 25-for-59 (42.4%) overall and (1-for-17) 5.9% from three-point range. 

• Framingham shot 26-for-55 (47.3%) from the field and (3-for-9) 33.3% from beyond the arc. 

• Fitchburg held the 45-31 advantage on the boards. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• Framingham State raced out to a 9-3 lead with a layup from Okafor and a tip-in from Jahden Erold before the Falcons responded with buckets from senior Larry Mendes and Taylor.  

• Trailing 17-15, Falcons junior Darian Norwood hit a pair of baskets and sophomore Trevian Hinson added four points to rally the Green and Gold to a 23-19 advantage.  

• The Rams counted with a three-point play from freshman Okundaye but the Falcons finished the frame with a pair of free-throws from Hinson to hold a 30-27 lead heading into intermission.  

• With the score tied 31-31, newcomer Dayne Allen hit a jumper for the Falcons, while Erold answered for the Rams with a layup as the 30-second clock expired to keep the game even.  

• The Falcons would forge ahead 41-39 with a basket from Quincy Taylor and the visitors would counter with a free-throw from Keith Hollman and a jumper from Hill to take a 42-41 lead midway through the second half.  

• Hinson would hit a jumper from the baseline to keep the game close (49-47), however, a dunk from Okafor extended the lead back to four (51-47) for the Rams, with under seven minutes to play.  

• With 3:52 to play Allen put back an offensive rebound to cut the advantage for the Rams to 55-53. The Rams would push the lead to 59-54 on a basket from Okafor at the 2-minute mark and capped the win with a trey from Ivan Nyantenji with just under two to play.