Late Run Propels Westfield State Past Men's Basketball

- Scores:  Westfield State 68, Framingham State 57 

- Records:  Framingham State (4-17, 1-7 MASCAC), Westfield State (6-14, 5-3 MASCAC)  

- Location:  Logan Gymnasium – Framingham, Mass. 

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. 

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.