Men’s Basketball Roll Over Framingham State

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – For the MCLA Men's Basketball team, the playoffs unofficially started a couple of weeks back and continued this afternoon on the road at Framingham State. With a win today against Framingham State and a loss by Salem State at Worcester State, the Trailblazers could ensure a first-round home game in the MASCAC playoffs. The basketball gods were smiling upon MCLA as the Trailblazers took home a 67-59 win, and the Vikings fell to the Lancers 103-99 in overtime.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, February 10, 2024
• Score: MCLA 67, Framingham State 59
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 13-10 (MASCAC 7-4) | Framingham State 5-18 (MASCAC 0-10)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Framingham State opened the game hot, starting the game with a 10-3 run in the first five minutes, with MCLA missing five of their first six shots, with all six being from three-point range. After that point, the Trailblazers dialed in and found their range, knocking down six of their next 11 shots, including four threes, to take the lead on a three from Quentin Gittens. A Jake Bluestein layup with five minutes to play gave the MCLA their largest lead of the half at 28-20. Both teams remained cold for the remainder of the half, and the Trailblazers held a 28-24 lead at the half.
• A made free throw by the Rams' Joshua Saint Jean pulled the teams back to even at 28-28 with 18:25 to go. MCLA took the challenge seriously and kicked off a 17-2 run that started with a jumper by Quentin Gittens and was capped by a three from Colby Burleson with 11:45 to play.
• Framingham would attempt to get back in the game, multiple times getting as close as five points at multiple times in the remainder of the game, but each time found that the Trailblazers would respond, eventually setting the final edge at eight points, 67-59.
• Gittens upped his career-high for the third time this season, scoring 36 points, topping the 33 he scored against Fitchburg on January 27^th. Gittens was a force from the field, knocking down 12 shots, including a pair of threes, but also draining 10 of his 13 free throw attempts.
• Burleson also set a new career high, scoring 14 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Burleson finished the game five of seven from the field, including four of six from deep.
• Jean scored 17 points and gathered 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Joshua-Daniel Okafor added 14 points for the Rams.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Field Goals / %: MCLA 25-37 / 40.4%, FSU 24-50 / 48%
• 3 Points / %: MCLA 9-29 / 31 %, FSU 3-13 / 23.1%
• Free Throw / %: MCLA 12-15 / 80%, FSU 8-17 / 47.1%
• Rebounds: MCLA 35, FSU 31
• Points off Turnovers: MCLA 11, FSU 4
• Second Chance Points: MCLA 9, FSU 3
• Points in the Paint: MCLA 18, FSU 34
• Bench Points: MCLA 22, FSU 19

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to Worcester State for a MASCAC matchup with the Lancers at the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. The teams will take the floor for a 2 p.m. tip-off.

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