By Adam Levine
Asst. Sports Editor
The Framingham State Rams suffered a 68-62 overtime loss to the Lesley University Lynx Dec. 1.
The Rams’ JD Okafor recorded a double-double, as he scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the game.
As a team, Lesley recorded 20 steals and had four different players score in the double-digits.
Lesley’s bench outscored Framingham’s 27-14, which helped them capture the win.
The game was close from start to finish.
Four minutes into the first half, the Rams led 6-5, all six of their points coming from Okafor’s strong start.
Lesley outscored Framingham 8-2 and took a 13-8 lead in under 2 minutes.
Framingham’s Tevin Charles responded by scoring two points off of a layup. Okafor followed Charles by scoring another five points of his own.
With 10:27 left in the first half, Framingham took a 15-13 lead over Lesley.
The Lynx outscored the Rams and took their own two-point lead.
With 7:46 left in the first half, the Rams’ Keyshon Saunders scored a layup, which was followed by a successful three-point field goal from teammate Ivan Nyantenji.
The Lynx were not able to take the lead for the remainder of the first half, but the Rams were never able to break away, either.
As the second half began, Framingham held a 32-28 lead over Lesley.
There was little offensive action to begin the second half, but Framingham managed to score a layup and a free throw.
No matter what Lesley did, Framingham maintained a slim lead over the Lynx.
With 15:54 remaining in the second half, Framingham’s Charles scored a layup to increase the Rams’ lead to seven points.
Leslesy was able to close the gap, but the Rams held their lead.
With 8:16 left in the second half, the Rams’ Bryan Thompson scored a layup and Framingham held the biggest lead of the game.
Framingham led Lesley with a score of 52-43. However, the Lynx began to close the gap.
With 4:50 remaining in the second half, Lesley’s Scott Barlow made a three-point shot to tie the game with a score of 54-54.
The Lynx and Rams each scored another two points, but the game remained tied with a score of 56-56 as regulation time expired.
Five minutes of overtime were added to the clock.
Overtime began slowly until the Rams went on a 5-0 scoring run, taking a 61-56 lead over the Lynx.
With 1:41 left in overtime, Lesley’s Chistrain Castro scored a three-point shot that sparked the Lynx’s victory.
The Lynx outscored the Rams 12-1 to close out overtime.
Lesley’s overtime scoring run earned them a 68-62 victory against Framingham.
The Rams dropped to an overall record of 2-6 on the season.
Framingham’s assistant coach Brenton Caesar-Allen referred to this game as a “blip.” He said, “This seems like a little blip in the system. Hopefully, we can get back on track in our next game.”
Nyantenji is also looking toward his team’s next game, but learned from their loss to Lesley. He said, “Staying poised as a team, we need to work on holding each other more accountable, and ourselves accountable.”
Framingham will host Fisher college for a non-conference matchup Dec. 6.