BOX SCORE

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Behind a game-high 17 points from senior guard Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass.)  the Framingham State University men's basketball team closed the regular season with a 65-57 win over Babson College in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon. 

With the win the Rams improve to 10-14 on the season, while the Beavers are an identical 10-14 with the loss.

Veal led a trio of Rams in double figures with his 17 including 7-of-8 from the line to go along with four boards.  Freshman Yemi Ajao (Randolph, Mass.) chipped in 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting performance from the floor while junior Marcus Mclaurin (Braintree, Mass.) chipped in 13 points. Senior forward Brendan Carter (South Boston, Mass.) grabbed a game-high 10 boards for the Rams.

The Beavers were led by senior guard Matt Zoia (Nashua, N.H.) and junior forward Kris Noonan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) who scored 11 points apiece.  Sophomore forward Russell Braithwaite (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and a team-high seven boards, while guard Matt Florio (Skillman, N.J.) picked up a game-high four assists.

With the game tied at 17-17 and just over eight minutes remaining in the first half, the Rams went on a 9-2 run to take the half's largest lead at 26-19 with 4:30 on the clock.  The run was capped by a three from senior guard Anthony Pappagallo (Malden, Mass.) and a jumper from freshman Tyrone Figueroa (Revere, Mass.).

Babson closed the half with a 6-0 run of their own to pull within three at the break.  Zoia scored four points in the final minute of the half for the Beavers.

The Rams used a 12-4 run to start the second half to take the games largest lead – 42-31 – with 13:12 remaining.  Babson was able to pull within three on several occasions including the final minute when a Marcus McDermott (Milton, Mass.) lay-in with 31.4 seconds remaining put the Beavers down 60-57.  That was as close as Babson would come as the Rams went 5-of-6 from the line down the stretch.

Saturday concluded the regular season for the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. The Beavers will enter the championship tournament with the #4 seed and will host #5 seeded United States Coast Guard Academy in Wednesday's quarterfinal game at 7pm at Babson College. The winner will then advance to the NEWMAC semi finals to face host and #1 seed WPI at 1pm on Saturday.

NOTE: Portions of this story taken from a Framingham State press release.