Men's Basketball Advances To ECAC Semifinals

Leicester, Mass.- Becker College held on to defeat Framingham State 77-75 in men's ECAC New England Quarterfinal basketball action.

Becker opened the game going on 15 to two run, as the Hawks led 41-29 at halftime.  Junior Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) carried the Hawks with 11 points in the first half. Matt Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.) went three for three from beyond the arch.

In the second half the Rams came charging back, as Becker blew a 16 point lead. With the Hawks ahead 64-48, Framingham went a 9-0 run, cutting the Hawks advantage to just seven points.  The Hawks held a slim lead until Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) scored a layup with 3:45 remaining in the game, tying things at 71 all. The Two teams went back and forth until the final seconds of the game when Trae Jacobs (Lexington Park, MD) was fouled in the paint with three seconds remaining. Jacobs hit both free throws and the Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC tournament.

Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.) led all scorers with 26 points, 19 of those came in the second half.  Senior Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.) scored 18 points, going three for six from three point range. Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass) chipped in with 12 points. Framingham State finished the season with a record of 16-11.

Four out of five Becker starters finished in double figures. Rajai Leggett scored 13 points and pulled down game high 14 rebounds, to earn a double-double. Junior point guard DeJohn Joseph-Exum (New London, Conn.) led the Hawks with 14 points. Trae Jacobs had 13 points and Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass) added 11 points in the victory. Matt Petrides came off the bench to score 13 points, going four for four from three point range.

With the win the Hawks improved to 19-9 on the season. Becker will travel to Eastern Connecticut State (19-9) for the Final four of the ECAC Tournament on Saturday night at 4pm.