MASCAC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
Worcester, MA --- Framingham State junior Joe McCabe (Canton, MA) poured in a game-best 23 points off of 8-for-11 shooting with four trifectas as he helped pace Framingham State to a 56-39 triumph over Worcester State in MASCAC men's basketball action this afternoon at Quinsigamond Community College.
In the win the Rams (7-17, 2-10 MASCAC) finish off their campaign with a high note in the regular-season finale for both squads.
Despite the setback, the Lancers (6-19, 3-9 MASCAC) earned the sixth seed in next week's conference Tournament and take on #3 Fitchburg State on Tuesday at 7 PM.
For FSU, senior Ronnie DeBarros (New Bedford, MA) notched nine points with five boards while freshman Tony Alexandre (Hyde Park, MA) and junior Jacek Louisville (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) contributed eight points apiece.
Standouts for the Blue and Gold included senior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) who had a team-best eight points with three helpers and sophomore Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) added six points, seven boards and a trio of assists.
Framingham State opened a 9-9 contest up with a 16-4 spurt as McCabe and Louisville underscored the skein with two trifectas each for the 25-13 margin and 9:07 on the clock.
The Lancers sliced the lead down to six on two occasions – including a lay-up as 41 seconds remained in the frame by Brooks for the 27-21 score at the intermission.
The Rams, however, took control of the momentum of the game by outscoring their opponents 12-1 run over the first nine minutes of the second period and never looked back.
McCabe again keyed the visitors with 10 points and DeBarros drilled a three-pointer with a dunk to close out the scoring with Framingham State up 45-22 and 10:58 left in regulation.
Framingham State finished shooting 43 percent for the contest (22-for-51) and found just as much success hitting nine of their 21 bids from beyond the arc. The Rams also led in rebounding (38-34), transition baskets (15-6) and bench scoring (19-7).
Worcester State on the other hand, struggled by sinking a paltry 32 percent from the field (18-for-57) while only making one of their nine tries from downtown. The hosts scored a bulk of their points in the paint (30-26) and held a 10-9 edge in second-chance scoring.
Rios and classmate Charles Gunter (Boston, MA/New Misson) were recognized in a brief pregame ceremony on "Senior Day." for playing in their final home regular season contest.
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