Falcons Notch MASCAC victory Over Rams

Fitchburg, Mass.  – The Fitchburg State men's basketball team downed the Rams of Framingham State 70-66 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Parkinson Gymnasium

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 70, Framingham State 66
Records: Fitchburg State (8-11, 3-5 MASCAC) | Framingham State (4-18, 1-8 MASCAC)

How It Happened

The Falcons opened the game with six straight points off buckets from Mikal Garcia (Fresno, Calif.), Dayne Allen (Revere, Mass.), and Quincy Taylor (Boston, Mass.) before the Rams answered with a pair of three-pointers from Marshall Martin (Dorchester, Mass.) and Ryan England (Sebastian, Fla.).
Trailing 16-11, the Rams knotted the game with a 3-ball and a layup from Juran Ligonde (Dedham, Mass.). Newcomer Tyrone Manderson (Saugus, Mass.) completed a three-point play and Matthew Tanis (Hialeah, Fla.)  drained a three-pointer to push the Falcons' lead to 24-20. Framingham State regained the lead (36-28) with eight straight points from JD Okafor (Boston, Mass.).

Fitchburg State closed out the frame with a 9-0 run capped by a buzzer-beating trey from Tanis to even the game 37-37 at halftime.

The teams traded baskets to start the second half. Framingham State took a five-point edge (51-46) with a layup from Martin and a jumper from Ivan Nyantenji (Nashua, NH). With less than three minutes remaining Allen hit a jumper and Tajahn Joyner (Amherst, Mass.) sank two at the free-throw line to forge the Falcons ahead 60-59. The Rams countered with a three-pointer from Jahden Erold (Boston, Mass.) to cut the deficit to 65-63 with twenty seconds to play, but four points from Joyner at the charity stripe sealed the Falcons' victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Joyner paced the Falcons with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, while Garcia added 12 points and Tanis chipped in with 11 points off the bench.
• For the Rams, Okafor had a game-high 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals.
• Fitchburg State shot 23-for-49 (46.9%) from the field and (3-for-10) 30% from three-point range
• Framingham State finished 20-for-53 (37.7%) overall and (10-for-21) 47.6% for beyond the arc
• The Falcons held a 28-38 advantage on the boards

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Monday night when they head to Mitchell College to face the Mariners in non-conference action starting at 6:00 PM.