Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. – In a Little East Conference men's basketball game featuring teams headed in opposite directions, Eastern Connecticut State University bid a not-so-fond farewell to the month of January, in general, and to the University of Massachusetts Boston, in particular, Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.

A winner of six of its last seven, UMass Boston (13-7, 9-2 LEC) opened and closed the month of January with victories over Eastern (11-8, 3-7 LEC), leading from start to finish this time to post an 81-71 victory.

Following a 9-1 start through the month of December, Eastern plummeted to 2-7 in the month of January and will tackle the final six games of the regular season mired in seventh place in the nine-team conference and in danger of missing out on the LEC playoffs for the third straight season.

While Eastern has struggled, UMass Boston has soared, winning ten of its last 12 following a 2-5 start and reaching the top of the LEC standings, a game ahead of Western Connecticut State University.

A team rated in the middle of the pack in the conference in free throw percentage, UMass has, inexplicably, flourished in two games this year against Eastern, which has countered with a sub-par percentage of 56.3 (27-of-48). After sinking 30 of 38 in a four-point win over the Warriors in the first meeting between the teams at Geissler Gymnasium – including 6-of-8 over the final 61 seconds that allowed it to break from a 77-all tie – UMB canned 23 of 29 Saturday to give it 53 points from the stripe in this year's two-game sweep. The Warriors managed only 11-of-22 Saturday – its second-lowest free throw percentage in a game this year.

Saturday's win gives the Beacons six straight over Eastern during the last three seasons. Since rolling up 23 straight wins vs. UMB in the series, Eastern has managed to come out on top in only four of the last 14 against the Beacons.

Saturday, Eastern started slowly in both halves before chipping away to pull close both times. The Warriors missed their first five shots to open the game and fell quickly back by six points before getting as close as three points,
36-33, on senior Jalen Hamblin's (West Hartford) basket and free throw with 2:35 left before the break.

The Warriors trailed by only four at the break but again were sluggish getting out of the gate in the second half. Eastern missed seven of its first eight shots and ten of its first 12 in the second half and trailed by 11, 56-45 before calling a timeout less than five minutes into the stanza.

The UMass lead ballooned to as many as 14 midway through the second half, but as it did in the opening half, Eastern chipped away by outscoring the hosts by 11 (14-3) over three minutes  to cut the deficit again to three, 69-66, with 8:24 left.

Hamblin, whose only three points in the first half came on that three-point play that made it a three-point game, led the charge back in the second half. The 6-foot-7 inch forward poured in ten of the team's 14 points in that three minute stretch with two more conventional three-point plays, as well a turnaround jumper courtesy of a defensive rebound by junior forward Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) and an inside bucket courtesy of Sanchez' steal.

Hamblin's second three-point play in that run capped the 14-3 scoring run but it also signaled the end of the momentum. Soon after, UMB answered with nine straight points of its own, outscoring Eastern 11-1 over the decisive next six minutes, the Warriors managing only one free throw in that stretch and only five total points over the final 8:24.

A 72 percent free throw shooter, sophomore guard Davon Sanders sank 12 of 13 free throws for UMass, draining four straight in a minute-and-a-half after Eastern had pulled to within three to give UMB a six-point, 73-67 lead with 6:21 left. Sanders later added a leaner in the paint , but it was sophomore guard Raphel Laurent who closed out the UMass win. The conference's third-leading scorer at 21.3 ppg., Laurent stuck a jumper while being fouled and converted the free throw, scored once in the paint and added a final free throw in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

 Little East scoring leader Cameron Perkins (22.5 ppg.), a 6-foot-5 inch forward led UMB with 24 points, with Laurent and Sanders each scoring 20 as the trio – their team's top three scorers on the season – accounted for 64 of their team's final point total. In contrasting games, Perkins was 13-of-15 from the stripe and 2-of-9 from the floor in the January win over Eastern and 3-of-5 from the line and 9-of-18 from the floor Saturday.

Led by 6-foot-7 inch senior Connor Walden (eight rebounds) and three teammates who grabbed seven each, the Beacons became only the fourth team this year to outrebound the Warriors, holding a +6 advantage.

Thirteen of Sanchez' team-high 19 points came in the first half and 14 of Hamblin's 17 came over the final 20 minutes. Senior guard Ray Carter (Springfield, MA) scored ten of his 13 points in the first half. That trio shot 50 percent (19-of-38) from the floor. Sanchez (9) and Hamblin (7) combined for 16 rebounds, while senior guard Michael Carothers (Queens, NY) reached his average by handing out six assists.

Eastern visits the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (10-9, 4-6 LEC) Wednesday at 5 p.m. looking to gain a split of this year's home-and-home LEC regular-season series after a 94-82 home loss Jan. 6. Idle Saturday, the Corsairs are 2-5 in their last seven games and are coming off Wednesday's 89-82 home loss to Rhode Island College.