BALTIMORE – The Rosemont men's basketball team again came close to claiming a win in the 25th Annual Blue Jay Invitational, but for the second afternoon in a row, the team came up just short against the Rams of Framingham State (Massachusetts), 71-68 in overtime in the tournament's consolation game. With the result the Ravens fell to 5-6 overall while the win moved the Rams to an overall record of 3-8.
Framingham State stayed in the game thanks to their shooting outside of the arc, hitting 42.1% from downtown on 8-for-19 compared to Rosemont coming up empty from deep, going 0-for-12 in the game.
The Ravens took the lead early in the first half, but Framingham came back to eventually take an eight-point lead. Trailing 27-19 with 1:22 left in the half the Ravens got closer by outscoring the Rams 5-0 to end the half to trail by only three points, 27-24.
Within a point to start the second half, Framingham drained two straight treys to take a 33-26 lead. Although the Ravens would continue to trail for most of the half, they clung closely with Framingham State. Trailing 52-48 with only 28 seconds remaining on the clock, Marcus Thomas would capitalize, making two free throws to make the score 52-50 with 22 ticks left. The Ravens turned up the pressure to force a Rams turnover, and Kyle Lafferty would make them pay with a layup on a feed from Marcus Thomas to tie the score at 52-52 with 16 seconds on the clock. The Ravens' tenacious defense paid dividends again after Framingham called a timeout with seven seconds remaining, as Clayton Wolfe stole the ball with three seconds left. A missed three-point try by the Ravens would send the game into overtime.
Kyle Lafferty extended his splendid game in the overtime. Trailing by two, he converted a jumper, grabbed a rebound off of a Rams missed shot, and was fouled and converted a free throw to give the Ravens a 55-54 lead with 3:50 left in the overtime period. Unfortunately for Rosemont, it would be the final time they would be in front. The Rams' Patrick Gould drained two consecutive three-point baskets and the Rams upped their lead to eight points, 65-57 with 1:45 left to play. The Ravens hadn't played their final cards yet.
Rosemont would go on a 9-2 run to get to within one point of the lead, trailing 67-66 with 23 seconds left in overtime after a Marcus Thomas three-point play. Down the stretch the Rams managed to evade Rosemont's defense, and made their late free throw attempts to sew up the victory.
Kyle Lafferty led both teams, scoring 26 points by shooting 9-for-17 from the field and 8-for-11 at the stripe. Marcus Thomas also scored in double-digits for the Ravens, shooting 8-for-19 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line for 22 points. Thomas led the Ravens in rebounds with eight.
With his effort, Lafferty was named to the Blue Jay Invitational All-Tournament team.
Framingham State placed four players in double digits; Timothy McCarthy (18), Daniel Gould (17), Jacek Louisville (14), and Bertholyn Alexandre (11). Alexandre was big off of the window for the Rams, earning a double-double with 16 rebounds.
The Ravens kick into conference play for the rest of their regular season starting on Thursday, 1/7, when they face the Neumann Knights in Aston. Earlier this season the Ravens defeated the Knights in Alumnae Hall, 96-92. The game on Thursday is slated for a 7:00pm tip-off.
