UMass Boston had four players in double figures as they rolled to a 70-48 win over USM in Little East Conference men’s basketball action at Hill Gymnasium last Tuesday.
The Beacons were led by sophomore guard Kyle King who turned in a double-double, tallying 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds on the night. Sophomore guard Michael Mitchell Jr. also added 14 points and led all players with seven assists. Junior guard Mo Johnson and freshman guard Jason White each contributed 12 points for the 4-16 Beacons.
The Huskies got down early as UMass had as much as a 15 point lead in the first half of play. USM fought back to cut the Beacon lead to six points, making the score 35-29 at halftime.
USM continued to show determination coming out in the second half as they pulled within two points of UMass several times, but the Beacons went on a 9-2 run that increased their lead to ten points (50-40) with a little less than 10 minutes to play in the contest.
The Huskies attempted to fight their way back as they cut UMass’s lead to eight points. UMass answered back with an 11-2 run and wouldn’t look back.
USM was led by junior guard Otis Smith (Altamonte Spings, Fla.) who scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior forward Will Clemmer (Windham) took down five rebounds, and blocked four Beacon shots to go along with his nine points, and junior guard John Sewall (Bath) and sophomore guard Billy Zolper (Bangor) drained eight points each.
The Huskies, who have six games left with five of those six against conference foes, are trying to conclude the season on a good note and win out. USM has been strapped with injuries and academic issues throughout the course of the season so it has been a difficult road due to the lack of depth they have.
We have a few conference games we need to focus on in the next couple of weeks. We’re just trying to finish out the year strong. I think it’s too early to start thinking about next year, but we’re only losing two players from this year’s team so that will be a solid base to build on,” USM head coach Karl Henrickson said.
Coming up, the Huskies will host Colby College on Tuesday Feb. 2nd, and will get a visit from UMass Dartmouth on Saturday Feb. 6 in a Little East Conference match-up.