Framingham State 70, Worcester State 64
Worcester, MA --- Senior Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, MA) led four players in double figures with a game-best 20 points to help lead Framingham State to a 70-64 triumph this evening in MASCAC Men's Basketball action at the Lancer Gymnasium.
With the win the Rams improve to 11-9 and 6-3 in the conference while the Lancers slip to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the league.
Classmate Bill Carey (Abington, MA) tallied 11 of his 14 points in the second half, with four three-pointers in the game, while classmate Darius Yarrell (Brockton, MA) added 13 points with three assists. Junior Royce Veal (Dorchester, MA) chipped in with 10 points as fourth-year Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, MA) finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds.
Senior Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI) recorded a double-double with 13 points and a contest-high 15 rebounds while freshman Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) poured in a career-best 16 points. First-year Tim Henault (Lunenburg, MA) registered 8 points off the bench as junior Ryan Testagrossa (Athol, MA) swiped 5 basketballs.
Worcester State held their largest lead of the game at 58-48 with 6:41 left, but they would see it evaporate as the Rams closed out the game with a 22-6 run. FSC received big contributions by Carey and Yarrell as each contributed five points apiece in a 12-2 spurt to tie the game 60-60 at 3:27 before Jackson gave the visitors the lead at 3:07 they would not relinquish.
In the final seven minutes of the frame, Worcester State would make only two of their final seven attempts from the field and Framingham State and the visitors would score 10 points off of five WSC miscues.
The opening stanza would see six ties and three lead changes as Framingham State led by no more than five points twice in the period. With 30 seconds remaining in the half, a Horton layup gave the Lancers the 32-30 edge at the break.
To start off the second half, the score was knotted three times and possession of the lead changed hands twice before a Henault three-point play sparked an 18-8 swing for the Lancers for their largest advantage of the game.
Horton scored his 1,000th point on the front-end of a free throw with WSC in the bonus during Framingham State's big run.
Horton becomes the 22nd player in program history to reach the 1,000 point milestone as he joins his brother, Mario Horton (1997-2001) who scored 1,428 points.
The Lancers held a 35-30 advantage on the boards and a 12-11edge off the offensive glass, but shot poorly from beyond the arch as they connected for just two of their 13 attempts.
FSC shot 44 percent for the game from downtown (8-for-18) and converted 22 WSC miscues into 24 points.
The game was a physical contest as there were a combined 36 fouls between the two squads. The Lancers made nearly a third of their points from the charity stripe as they were 69 percent for the game (26-for-37).
Both teams will host conference opponents on Tuesday evening. Worcester State takes on Fitchburg State at 8 PM while Framingham State will entertain Salem State at 7:30.