Men’s Basketball falls just short of MASCAC title

By Nenia Corcoran
Sports Editor

After a heartbreaking loss on Saturday to Bridgewater State, the Framingham State Men’s Basketball team took its place as the MASCAC runner-up.

The thrilling championship game was forced into overtime by Darius Yarrell, who sunk a three-pointer with just 20 seconds remaining in regulation play to tie the score at 59.

However, two minutes into the five minute overtime, Framingham State lost their momentum and fell behind. They were unable to dig themselves out of their deficit a second time and they soon found themselves in foul trouble. Framingham fouled the Bears six times during overtime, allowing Bridgewater nine points from the free-throw line.

Despite 20 points by Yarrell and 15 by Josue Almodovar, Bridgewater State went on to win the MASCAC tournament 74-70.
The loss ended the Rams’ seven game winning streak.

Coming off this loss, the Rams were selected as the fifth seed in the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Men’s Basketball Tournament. They squared off against fourth-seed Becker College on Wednesday night at Becker. The two teams found themselves having déjà vu from the previous year, when fourth-seed Becker defeated fifth-seed Framingham by a score of 95-71.

The rematch did not get off to the start that FSC had hoped for, however, and they found themselves down 41-29 at halftime. The Rams were not ready to give up, however, and after a monumental comeback, Framingham managed to tie the Hawks at 75 with two minutes and 20 seconds left in regulation.

In the battle that followed Almodovar’s jumper, both teams were held scoreless. As the clock ticked down, missed opportunities on both sides kept the score paralyzed at 75 all, and overtime appeared inevitable.

However, with just three seconds remaining on the clock, a foul by Almodavar sent Becker’s Terry Jacobs to the foul line, where he knocked down two foul shots, giving his team all the cushion they would need to win the game. The remaining three seconds would prove to be not enough for the Rams to force overtime, thus ending their season with a record of 16-11.

In spite of their last two devastating losses, the Rams posted one of their best seasons since 2005.

The Rams will graduate six seniors, including Yarell, Almodovar, Bill Carey, Roderick Jackson, Davis Saltmarsh and Douglas Ryan. Almodavar finished his Framingham State career with 1,706 points, ranking him second on the FSC all-time lead scorers’ list. Carey also ranked in the top ten overall scorers, with 1,168. Carey also holds nearly all of FSC’s three-point records, including made threes in a game, made threes in a season and most attempted threes.

Yarell is sad that his seasons here at Framingham State have come to an end. “The experience playing for FSC was great because I was a part of a group that changed the look of our program, as well as the respect we now receive in regards to our program. I couldn’t be more satisfied. I will always miss it and its sad that it had to come to an end. I will always be a ‘Big State’ Ram.”

Junior Brendan Carter was proud of the team’s performance this year. “As the season progressed, we as a team came together and made defense our number- one priority, and what came of it was one of the nicest runs to the MASCAC finals this school has ever seen. … In terms of next year our expectations will be set high as usual, with around nine returners and a talented group of incoming freshmen to fill the gaps left behind by the seniors.”

Almodovar said ,“We had a good season overall, I’m proud of my teammates. We came up short, but Framingham State College basketball is on the rise. Every other MASCAC school better watch out for FSC basketball.”