Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The University of Massachusetts Boston men's basketball team erased a six-point deficit midway through the second half by outscoring Eastern Connecticut State University 16-6 the rest of the way on the way to a 62-58 Little East Conference win Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
The win is the first for UMass Boston (7-4, 2-1 LEC) over Eastern (4-7, 0-2 LEC) in 11 years, snapping a 23-game losing streak at the hands of the Warriors dating back to 2008-09. The top-ranked defensive team in the Little East, UMass Boston limited Eastern to its lowest output in the series since recording a 60-56 victory over the Warriors at home during the 2005-06 season.
UMass Boston led by nine in the first half but Eastern surged to a one-point halftime lead and led the entire second half – by as many as seven – until the Beacons took the lead for good, 58-56, by breaking the eighth tie with 1:25 left.
Leading by six with just under ten minutes left, Eastern missed nine of its final 12 shots, missed the only two free throws it was awarded in that stretch, and turned by ball over five times during UMB's decisive 16-6 run.
Junior guard Charles Mitchell grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to give UMass the lead for good, 58-56, with 1:25 left, and with 21.4 seconds left, junior guard Charlie Mitchell sank two free throws awarded on the fifth personal foul charged to Eastern game scoring leader Seth Thomas (Norwich) to make it 60-56. Junior guard Michael Boyd sealed the UMB win with two more free throws with 8.9 seconds left.
Trailing by two in the final minute, Eastern had three chances to tie or go ahead but couldn't convert a potential go-ahead three-point field goal with 64 seconds left, and after the visitors gave it back on a turnover, missed two more attempts in the paint before UMB senior guard Dasan Cinelli grabbed the rebound that set up Charlie Mitchell's two free throws that made it 60-56 with 21.4 seconds left.
Boyd led UMass with 16 points – 13 in the first half -- seven assists and three steals, with Charles Mitchell adding 11 points and Cinelli a team-high seven rebounds. Four of UMB's starters combined for only four turnovers as the visitors heled the Warriors to only six points off turnovers.
On 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and seven rebounds, Thomas was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half for Eastern when he scored more than half of the team's points and grabbed more than one-third of its rebounds.
With the Beacons threatening to run away with the game in building a nine-point lead six minutes into the game, Thomas sparked an 8-0 Eastern run soon after which lifted it to its first lead since the opening basket, 17-16, with eight minutes left in the half. UMass couldn't convert on four consecutive shots in that span, three from long range. Junior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) got it going with a defensive rebound, and Thomas finished it with a jumper in the paint to cut the gap to five, 16-11. Thomas then pulled down a rare miss by Boyd and converted two free throws after being fouled going to the basket to make it 16-13. Another Boyd miss from three-point range returned the ball to Eastern, and Muckle swished a jumper to make it 16-15. After UMB's fourth straight miss, Thomas snared the rebound and converted on offense to push Eastern into a 17-16 with eight minutes left before the break. Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the half.
A sophomore forward, Thomas tossed in a career-high 30 points on 13-of-19 field goal shooting and also led both teams with a career-tying 12 rebounds for his second double-double in four games. It was the first 30-point game of the year for an Eastern players and tied for the most rebounds by a player this season. Junior guard Muckle had eight rebounds help Eastern to a +11 advantage on the boards. Sophomore forward Sharown Fowler (Springfield, MA) came off the bench for ten points and six rebounds.
Eastern hosts Massachusetts Dartmouth Tuesday at 6 p.m.
