Falcons Fall to Rams in MASCAC action 68-67

Fitchburg, Mass. –  The Fitchburg State University men's basketball team fell to the Rams of Framingham State 68-67 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Parkinson Gymnasium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State University 67, Framingham State University 68
Records: Fitchburg State (8-11, 4-3 MASCAC) | Framingham State (5-14, 3-4 MASCAC)

How It Happened

The Rams opened the contest with a 12-2 run. Sophomore Cameren McCloud-Thomas (Springfield, Mass.) and classmate Trevor Manyak (Bolton, Mass.) 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 8 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

• 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.
• For Framingham State, Payton posted a team-high 19 points and three caroms, while McCloud-Thomas added 14 points and five rebounds.
• Fitchburg State shot 22-for-57 (38.6%) from the field and (7-of-25) 28% from beyond the arc.
• The Rams went 28-of-56 (50.0%) overall and (4-of-18) 22.2% from three point range.
• 89th meeting between two schools with Falcons 37-51 all-time vs the Rams​

Up Next

Falcons will travel to Salem to take on the Vikings on Wednesday evening for a MASCAC bout, starting at 5:30pm. The Rams host the Lancers of Worcester State the same night in MASCAC action with a 6:00 pm tipoff.