BOSTON, Mass. – Led by Vincent Pace's 22 points, the 22^nd ranked Jumbos of Tufts University defeated men's basketball by the final of 74-61 Tuesday evening in the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 61, #22 Tufts University 74

UMass Boston (5-6)
Tufts University (9-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Looking to pull-off the big upset of 2016, the Beacons played an extremely hard fought game from start to finish.  At two different points the Beacons took lead over their nationally-ranked crosstown rivals, but were unable to keep the momentum in their corner.

Sophomore guard Maurice Magras (Medford, Mass.) continued his impressive play as he dropped in a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, which included a 4-for-5 showing from 3-point range.  At the line he was also 4-for-5.  Fellow guard Quadry Allen (White Castle, La.) finished second on the team with 13 points, while off the bench Kevin Louis-Jean (Hyde Park, Mass.) finished with 10. 

Junior forward Dan Powers (Westwood, Mass.) grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, and also finished with seven points to lead the Beacons bench.  Junior guard Iser Barnes (Boston, Mass.) notched a game-high six assists, and had two steals.

At no point in the first half did the Jumbos really take control of the scoreboard.  UMass took advantage of all of their possessions to keep the deficit to single digits for the first 20 minutes.  The Beacons notched their first lead of the evening when they posted an 8-2 run with just over seven minutes to play before the intermission.  Tufts would respond with a run of their own to make it a seven point game with 4:08 left.

However with 3-pointers from Allen and Powers, along with a lay-up by Allen the Beacons regained their one point lead with 2:33 left before halftime.  The Jumbos closed out the first half with a 7-0 run to go into the locker room with a 41-35 lead. 

After the break, UMass managed to weather an early run by Tufts and cut the deficit back to one at the midway point of the second half.  However that would be the closest the Beacons would come to retaking the lead, as Tufts managed to push their lead to double-digits for only the second time on the night to secure the victory. 

Pace led the Jumbos on his 8-for-11 shooting from the field, while the newly named Division III National Player of the Week, Tom Palleschi finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven blocked shots. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Tufts University now leads the all-time series 33-9 and have won the last 12 meetings with the Beacons
• Magras' 22 points marked the second time that the sophomore has recorded 20 or more points in a game
• Powers 13 rebounds was the fourth time this season that he has finished with 10 or more boards in a game

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will travel to Bridgewater State University on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. non-conference game.