GORHAM, Maine – Bobby Joy and Malik Lorquet combined for 43 points as the UMass Boston Beacons defeated the University of Southern Maine Huskies 66-60 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Hill Gymnasium.
Joy was 7-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three, and had four rebounds, two assists and two steals for a game-high 25 points. Lorquet snagged a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor and coming up with six offensive rebounds.
Four players scored in double-figures for the Huskies led by a career-high 12 points off of the bench from freshman
Joe Longoria (New Braunfels, Texas). Longoria was an efficient 5-for-6 from the field. Senior
Jason Lombard (Anchorage, Alaska/Chugiak), junior
Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) and freshman
Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) each had 10 points. Lombard led the Huskies with eight rebounds, while Dixon had six assists.
The Records:
UMass Boston (12-4, 5-2 Little East)
Southern Maine (10-6, 4-3 Little East)
Series History:
Tonight's game marks the 111
th contest between UMass Boston and Southern Maine. Southern Maine leads the series 65-46. UMass Boston defeated the Huskies 68-59 on February 16, 2022 in the previous meeting and has the last three with tonight's win.
How It Happened:
- The Huskies started off hot and led 20-10 at the 7:23 mark of the first half as Lombard hit a buzzer-beating three. However, UMB rallied with a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 24-22 lead. Lorquet scored six of his 18 in the run. With the game separated by a single possession, both teams went back and forth. Lorquet snagged an offensive board with 30 seconds to go and hit the put back to give the Beacons a narrow 27-26 edge over the Huskies before Dixon hit a three from the corner to end the half. USM led 29-27 at the break.
- With the game tied at 32 with 17:09 to play in the second, Southern Maine outscored the Beacons 12-5 over the next four minutes to lead 44-37. Longoria scored seven of his 12 points in the run.
- UMass Boston responded however, and scored 13 unanswered point to vault ahead of the Huskies 50-44 with 9:21 to go spurred by seven points from Joy.
- Another run, this time from the Huskies 9-2, returned the advantage to Southern Maine 53-52 on a three from Colon with 4:05 to play. But, the Beacons scored seven straight on a jumper from Mariano Rodriquez, a traditional three point play from Tommy Burris and two free throws from Joy to go up by two possessions 59-53 with 1:42 to play.
- Lombard pulled USM to within a possession, 59-56, with a jumper and a free throw on two separate plays, but the Beacons' Joy took over scoring his team's final seven points, including a dagger of a three with 14 seconds to play, as the Beacons held 66-60.
Inside The Stats:
- UMass Boston shot 48 percent (12-for-25) in the second half to outscore USM 39-31. UMB was 4-for-7 from three in the final 20 minutes.
- Southern Maine's bench outscored the Beacons' bench 28-6.
Up Next:
The Huskies are on the road at No. 4 Keene State on Saturday (3:00 pm), and then return home on Wednesday (7:30 pm) against LEC opponent Rhode Island College.
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