By Matt Ferris
Framingham traveled to Fitchburg State to take on the Falcons in the final game of the regular season on Feb. 18.
The Rams got off to a hot start, starting the game on a 9-4 run on the backs of Manny Payton and Tyri Hampton, who combined for seven of the first nine points.
Framingham held the led for almost the entire half until around the six minute mark when a Fitchburg layup gave the Falcons the lead by a point.
The Rams countered and took the lead right back.
Framingham looked poised to take a lead into halftime, but Fitchburg ended the half on an 8-4 run to grab a one point lead at the end of the half.
The Falcons came out in the second half, and never gave up the lead.
Every time the Rams made a basket, Fitchburg would counter with a basket of its own to keep the Rams down on the scoreboard.
The Falcons closed out the game on an 8-4 run to earn a 72-64 victory over the Rams.
Fitchburg clinched the one seed in the MASCAC tournament with the victory, closing out their season with a 10-2 record in the conference.
Payton and Tim Mangano led the Rams in scoring with 16 points each. Mangano also grabbed four rebounds. Hampton finished with nine points and grabbed four rebounds.
Framingham finished the regular season with a 7-18 record and a 4-8 record in the conference to lock up the sixth seed in the conference tournament.
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The Rams traveled to Bridgewater State to take on the third seeded Bears in the MASCAC tournament on Feb. 21.
The Bears got out to hot start, with a 15-2 run in the first five minutes of the game. The Rams countered with 8-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to seven.
Bridgewater came right back with a 12-0 run of its own to take a 29-10 lead with around seven minutes remaining.
The Bears would eventually take a 20-point lead into halftime.
Framingham could not muster up a big enough run in the second half to get back into the game.
The Bears went on to win the game 65-41. The 24-point loss ends the Rams season as they got eliminated from the MASCAC tournament.
Mangano led the Rams in scoring with 14 points. Tony Alexandre 7nished with a double double for Framingham. He scored 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.
The Rams finish the season with a 7-19 record on the season.