Framingham State Defeats Men's Basketball In Overtime, 82-73

Worcester, MA --- Sophomore Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, MA) scored 22 points and logged a career-best seven swipes to help lead Framingham State to a 82-73 triumph in overtime over Worcester State this evening in men's MASCAC basketball action at the Lancer Gym.

The Rams (8-12, 2-5 MASCAC) were also paced by second-year Jaime Henderson (Duncanville, TX) who finished with 19 points and a team-high eight boards and junior Rico DePoalis (Watertown, MA) added 15 points – including four three pointers.

Senior Allen St. Surin (Brockton, MA) and sophomore Adeyemi Ajoa (Randolph, MA) both chipped in with 10 points apiece.

Second-year Robert Hunter (St. Louis, MI) propelled the Blue and Gold (6-13, 3-4 MASCAC) as he registered his 12th double-double in 19 games with game-highs of 26 points and 14 boards.

Sophomore Mike Gittens (Uncasville, MA) tallied 22 points on a 9-for-10 performance from the field and senior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) ended his night with 15 points and four assists.

Framingham State would erase a 13 point deficit midway through the second period as the Lancers held their largest margin of the contest at 49-36 with 11:46 left.

Worcester State continued to lead 53-44 four minutes later before the Rams utilized a 12-4 spurt to trail by just one point at the 4:49 mark (57-56).

Back-to-back lay-ups pushed the WSU advantage to five points, but the visitors would double-up the hosts over next 2½ minutes to open up a 67-63 game with 1:33 remaining. Framingham State took their first lead of the frame on a lay-up by St. Surin with 2:34 on the clock.

Junior Kyle Ferreira (Westport, MA), however, would give the Lancers some life in the waning moments with a pair of scores from the free throw line and a lay-up to force the extra session.

After both squads traded jabs in overtime, the Rams would claim the five point advantage on back of a Figueroa trey with 2:52 remaining (74-69). Framingham State would close out the stanza with an 8-4 run for their second-straight MASCAC win.

After game started off with a four lead changes and a pair of times over the first eight minutes of play, Worcester State would go on an 11-0 run to stake the 24-13 lead with 7:24 remaining. The visitors would answer with a 13-5 run to get within three points with 2:14 left in the period, but the Lancers ended the opening half with six straight points in the paint for the 35-26 advantage at the intermission.

FSU would cut the lead down to 37-33 coming out the locker room before the hosts opened up the game with a 12-3 surge for their biggest margin of the contest.

Worcester State held the 43-40 edge in rebounding while they also dominated the paint (44-36) and the transition game (23-11). The Lancers enjoyed a 47 percent shooting percentage for the game (29-for-62) – but were only two for nine in the extra session. 

The Rams, however, used the most of their opportunities with a modest line from the field (38 percent – 26-for-68), but only converted six of their 28 attempts from downtown. In their 11th game with as many as 20 free throw attempts, the visitors recorded more than a quarter of their offense from the charity stripe with a final tally of 62 percent (24-for-39).

Framingham State also had the 18-11 advantage in offensive boards and they also led in points off turnovers (19-8) and second-chance points (11-10).

Both squads return to MASCAC play on Tuesday evening. Worcester State heads to Westfield State for a 7:30 matchup while the Rams entertain Bridgewater State at 8 PM.