By Adam Levine
Interim Sports Editor
The Framingham State Rams suffered a 83-80 loss to the Salem State Vikings, Jan. 21.
Framingham and Salem each had three players with at least 16 points in the game, but Salem’s late-game comeback secured their victory.
Salem began with the first basket of the game, to which Framingham responded with a 9-0 scoring run.
After Framingham’s quick scoring run, Salem was able to score back-to-back layups, for a score of 9-6.
Over the next 5 minutes, the Rams outscored the Vikings 10-2. The score increased to 19-8 in favor of the Rams.
Framingham scored three unanswered free throws, which marked an 11-point lead for them.
The first quarter ended and the Rams held a 22-13 lead over the Vikings.
Framingham’s Flannery O’Connor led the team’s scoring with nine points in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Rams held their lead, but the Vikings began to stage their comeback.
Halfway through the second quarter, the Vikings decreased the deficit to four points.
Framingham regained control of the game and outscored Salem for the remainder of the second quarter.
The first half ended and the Rams held a 41-33 lead over the Vikings.
Framingham’s first-half offense was led by eight assists from Gwendolyn Carpenter and 14 points from Katherine Haselton.
The third quarter started with Framingham’s assertive offense.
With 6:24 remaining in the third quarter, the Rams led with a 14-point lead. This was Framingham’s biggest lead of the game.
The Vikings were down by 10 points with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter. They began their comeback with a 10-0 scoring run and tied the game 53-53.
The Rams outscored the Vikings 5-3 to end the quarter, and the Rams led the Vikings 58-55.
The fourth quarter consisted of the Viking’s biggest offensive push.
Salem tied the score three separate times before taking the lead.
With 1:03 left in the game, Salem scored a layup and took a 76-75 lead over Framingham.
O’Connor scored a layup to regain the lead for Framingham.
Salem scored six unanswered points over the next 28 seconds and led Framingham 82-77 with 5 seconds left of the game.
The Ram’s Katty Haidul scored a three-point field goal and brought the score within two points.
Salem ended the game by scoring a free throw to finalize their 83-80 comeback win over Framingham.
The Viking’s Kylie Gates and Abuk Teng each scored at least 10 points in the fourth quarter to help propel the Vikings over the Rams.
As of presstime, the Rams defeated Worcester State, Jan. 26, and now hold a conference record of 4-2 and an overall record of 12-4.
Carpenter, who recorded a game-high of nine assists, said, “It’s just one step back, we’ll be OK.
“We need to play better defense, we need to move the ball more, and we’ll be OK,” she added.
The Ram’s head coach, Walter Paschal, said, “I think we have to play better. Salem played great.
“We just didn’t make some plays where we needed to,” Paschal added.
Framingham will travel to Bridgewater State for another conference matchup Jan. 28.