Box Score FITCHBURG, Mass. – Led by Carl Joseph's (Brockton, Mass.) 24 points, and a combined 46.3% shooting from the field men's basketball continued their historic start as they improved to 4-0 following a 77-67 win at Fitchburg State University Tuesday evening.
The Beacons not only continued their best start since the 1997-98 season with Tuesday's victory, but they also ended the Falcons undefeated run as Fitchburg State fell to 5-1 on the year following the 10-point loss.
Joseph's game-high 24 points was the result of a 10-for-17 night for the Beacons leading scorer, which also included one 3-pointer. At the line, the Brockton native was 3-for-4 to seal his fourth straight 20+ point performance. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Off the bench, Karl Agenor (Dorchester, Mass.), also grabbed nine boards in the win. The junior transfer entered Tuesday's contest as the Division III leader in rebounds averaging 19.0 boards per game.
Gregory Young (Dorchester, Mass.) also had a hand in Tuesday's victory with his 16 points, while junior guard Layo Medina (Brockton, Mass.) finished a season-best 12, while also handing out four assists in the win.
The Beacons continued their red-hot play as they went 25-for-54 from the field, and 7-for-23 from behind the arc. At the line they went 20-for-27 in what turned out to be a whistled filled affair.
Despite leading the contest defensively in steals, forced turnovers, and blocked shots, the Falcons were never able to get past the Beacons. Despite many attempts throughout the back-and-forth affair, UMass managed to stay ahead of their non-conference opponent for a majority of the night.
Thanks to a 13-point performance from Joseph in the first half, the Beacons were able to enter the intermission with a 35-27 lead. The second half was a very tight with UMass outscoring the Falcons by a mere two points (42-40). Young made his biggest impact of the night in the final 20 minutes of play, as he dropped in 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Agenor and Young led the half with five rebounds each, while Medina finished with nine of his 12 points to lead the Beacons to the win.
The Beacons return to action on Friday when they host the College of St. Joseph (VT) on 4 p.m. on the first day of the 30th Annual Harbor Invitational.
