Fitchburg State Earns Top Seed and a Share of the MASCAC Regular-Season Crown with a 60-53 Win at Framingham

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. - The Fitchburg State men's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 60-53 win at Framingham State on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Falcons earned a share of the regular-season title in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), the top seed in next week's conference tournament, and a first-round bye. The Green and Gold finished tied with Salem State at 9-3 in league play and split the season series with the Vikings. But Fitchburg State went 2-0 vs. third-place Bridgewater State while Salem State went 1-1.

On Thursday, February 25th, the Falcons will host the winner of a quarterfinal match-up between #4 Worcester State and #5 Westfield State in the MASCAC semi-finals.

In the victory over the Rams, Fitchburg was paced by junior Jaleel Bell (Dorchester, Mass.) who registered a game-high 19 points shooting 5-of-10 from the floor. Sophomore Josh Bosworth (Springfield, Mass.) contributed 10 points, while Bell and senior Givaughn Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) shared team-high rebounding honors with six boards apiece.

Sophomore Tony Alexandre (Hyde Park, Mass.) scored a team-high 16 points for the Rams while McCabe scored 14 points including four from long range.

The two sides battled it out in a game that saw six ties and eight lead changes. The Falcons pulled away to a six-point lead a little more than halfway through the first half but the Rams quickly tied it back up with back-to-back threes from McCabe. After trading baskets the Rams were able to take a 33-30 lead but they saw that lead slip away and went into the break trailing 36-34 after baskets from Bell, Jones and junior Leonny Burgos (Lawrence, Mass.).

After trading the lead a few times early in the 2^nd frame, the visitors took control and led for most of the middle part of the frame. The Rams grabbed the momentum and tied the game at 51 on a Ben Roache (Dighton, Mass.) fade away jumper with just fewer than five to play. The Falcons then scored the next five points and rode a 9-2 run to end the game, including layups from Bell, Bosworth and junior Lance Hill (Lawrence, Mass.).

The Falcons shot 41% from the floor and 45% from downtown. The Rams shot 39% from the floor and 31% from long-range.