Worcester State Defeats Framingham State, 70-58

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State's Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.) and Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.) scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, to help lead the Lancers (11-7, 3-2 MASCAC) over the Framingham State Rams (4-13, 1-4 MASCAC) 70-58 Saturday afternoon at the Harrington Auditorium on the campus of WPI.

Brooks registered the only double-double of the game, collecting 18 points and 12 rebounds (four offensive), while going 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the field. "Paul played well for us today in fronting in the post," stated head coach Dave Lindberg. "He did a good job taking advantage in the post, and assisted in some buckets and rebounds on both ends."

Shakir scored a game-high 20 points for the Lancers, making three 3-pointers (3-8) and going 7-for-8 (87.5%) from the free-throw line. Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.) netted 10 points, while Alex Santos (Lawrence, Mass.) and Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, Mass.) collected nine apiece.

For the Rams, senior guard Timothy McCarthy (Wilmington, Mass.) controlled the offense as he scored 15 points and marked a team-high four assists on the afternoon. Timothy Mangano (Winchester, Mass.) netted 13 points for the Black and Yellow, while Daniel Gould (Quincy, Mass.) registered 10. On the boards, Bertholyn Alexandre (Hyde Park, Mass.) recorded a team-high with six (three offensive).

The game started out with back-and-forth play as the Lancers and Rams tied the score on four occasions. The last time the Rams would tie the game was at 7:16 when Joseph McCabe (Canton, Mass.) drained shot from beyond the arc. From there, the Lancers would go on a 10-0 run to push the Rams away with a score of 33-23. With 1:22 remaining on the clock in the first, Framingham would come back with an 8-2 run, going into the half trailing by five.

Worcester State set the pace in the second, as McKreith-Collins made a 3-pointer just 11 seconds in. Following the three, Worcester got up by 10 on a layup from Brooks, and held a 10-plus point advantage for the majority of the second half. Starting at 12:35, the Lancers went on a 14-3 run, holding their largest lead of 18 with 9:00 remaining. Though, with 6:17 remaining, Framingham went on a dramatic 10-0 run to cut the Lancers' lead to eight. The closest the Rams got to the Lancers in the second was within seven at 2:02 when McCarthy nailed a three. Though, good free throw shooting by the Lancers resulted in a 70-58 victory for Worcester State.

"Framingham State is a hard team to play," stated head coach David Lindberg. "We had to be patient today, and we did a good job making enough runs within the 40 minutes of play."

Overall, Worcester held the shooting advantage, going 41.5% from the field, and 87.5% from the free throw line. Though, Framingham held a 29.0-to-21.7 3-point field goal percentage, draining nine shots from beyond the arc.

The Lancers return to action on Wednesday (Jan. 27) where they will take on another MASCAC opponent, Westfield State. The Rams will travel to Fitchburg State on the same day for a 7:30 p.m. MASCAC tipoff.