Men's Basketball Dominant in 101-55 Win Over Rams, Advance to MASCAC Semifinals

SALEM, Mass. – Six different players notched double figures as second seed Salem State dominated seventh seed Framingham State 101-55 in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament on Tuesday evening at Twohig Gymnasium. The Vikings (15-9) advance to the semifinals on Thursday at 7:00 pm. The Rams end their 2021-22 campaign 3-22.

Salem State's Conner Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) scored a team-high 15 points with three blocks while Chris MacDonald (Wakefield, Mass.) finished with 13 points and five steals. Jarret Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) posted a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds and Jaden Castillo (Lawrence, Mass.) added 10 points in the victory.

MacDonald scored 10 first half points, going 4-for-7 (57.1%) from the floor as Salem State built a comfortable 45-22 halftime lead. The Vikings opened-up the game with a 10-0 run as Framingham State missed their first six field goal attempts. Josh Dumay's (Framingham, Mass.) dunk gave the Rams their first points of the game, but Josian Green (Springfield, Mass.) quickly answered with a three to put the Vikings in front 13-2 at the 15:17 mark. Salem State, which hit eight-of-their-first-12 shots, then extended the lead to 21-5 following a Conner Byrne layup. A Jarret Byrne three pushed the lead to its largest of the half at 23 points, 32-9 with 7:44 left. The Rams managed to shoot just 8-for-28 (28.6%) from the field, enabling Salem State to keep the lead near 20 points for the remainder of the half.

Framingham State went the final 3:07 without a bucket allowing the Vikings to take a 23-point lead into the break. The Vikings, who shot 18-of-31 (58.1%) from the field owned a 24-8 advantage in the paint. Keith Hollman (Cambridge, Mass.) and Joshua-Daniel Okafor (Boston, Mass.) each paced Framingham State with six first half points.

Green scored 11 second half points for Salem State, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, including a pair of three's as the Vikings continued to build onto their lead. The Rams' shooting woes continued in the second half as Framingham State converted just nine field goals in twenty-seven attempts, and trailed by 45 points after a pair of free throws by Javiar Osorio (Pittsfield, Mass.). Liam Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) came off the bench and added three blocks in just nine minutes of action as Salem State's bench provided 43 points, led by 18 points from Green and 10 from Louis.

Ralph Franklin Jr. (Milford, Mass.) capped the scoring with a layup to make the final 101-55 as the Vikings ended the night 37-of-65 (56.9%) from the floor.

Framingham State's Jahden Erold (Boston, Mass.) led all scorers with 17 points while Okafor and Hollman tallied nine apiece with Hollman leading the Rams with seven rebounds. Framingham State went just 18-of-65 (27.7%) from the floor while committing 21 turnovers.