Owls Defeat Rams 68-57

By Framingham State athletics

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FRAMINGHAM – The Framingham State University men’s basketball team surrendered an 8-0 run late in the second half to the Owls as Westfield State rallied for a 68-57 victory this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at Logan Gymnasium.     

Westfield State owls improve to 6-14 overall and 5-3 in the MASCAC.

Framingham State falls to 4-17 overall and 1-7 in the Conference.

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HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• The Rams led 12-4 on a Bryan Thompson jumper just over seven minutes into the game, but a 10-2 run by the Owls knotted the game at 14-14 with nine to go in the half. 
• The Rams countered with a 14-5 run of their own feuled by eight points from Juran Ligonde and capped by a three from JD Okafor taking a 28-19 lead with four to play. 
• Westfield closed the gap to one – 30-29- on a three by JT Thompson with just under two to play, but the Rams pushed the lead back to six before a late three by the Owls sent the Rams to the half leading 34-31. 
• The Rams led by seven, 43-36, just under five minutes into the second half, but the Owls used a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead 45-43. A Jaleen Carroll three stopped the spurt and put the Rams back on top. 
• Tied 50-50 with just over eight minutes to go, the Owls used an 8-0 run capped by two three-pointers from Thompson to take the lead for good. 

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INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• The Rams were paced by a game-high 27 points from Ligonde. Ligonde connected on 11-of-16 from the floor and finished the double double with a team best 15 boards. 
• Okafor finished the game with 12 points for the Rams as he hit 4-of-7 from the floor and added three boards. 
• Thompson led four Owls in double figures as he tallied a team-high 16 points on 3-of-5 from behind the arc to go along with five boards and two steals. 
• Kumar Brown and Brendan Hamilton finished with 14 points apiece, while Gerry McManus finished the game with 12 points, eight assists and four rebounds. 

UP NEXT:  The Rams are back in action Saturday when they travel to Fitchburg State at 12 p.m., while the Owls travel to Salem State on Saturday also at noon. 

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