Box Score
BOSTON, Mass.—Five different players finished in double-figures to lead host UMass Boston men's basketball into the Championship Game of the Harbor Invitational for a fifth-consecutive season.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 76, Vermont Tech 50
(UMass Boston 3-0)
(Vermont Tech 4-4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons built a double-digit lead less than nine minutes in and never looked back, in a 76-50 win over Vermont Tech, in the opening game of the 32nd Annual Harbor Invitational. UMass Boston outscored the Knights by 13 in both halves, to improve to 3-0 for the first time under second-year head coach Jason Harris.
Senior guard Neil Cesar (Randolph, Mass.) poured in a career and team-high 15 points, that included four made threes. Fellow senior Iser Barnes (Boston, Mass.) chipped in with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Ty Lee (Boston, Mass.) just missed a double-double in his first collegiate start, with 12 points and nine assists.
Alex Sanchez (Salem, Mass.) and Careem Kirksey (Dorchester, Mass.) were the final two Beacons to finish in double-figures.
Vermont Tech junior Cameron Carter led all players with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Freshman Lewis Holey added eight points and nine rebounds for the visitors, who fell to the Beacons for the second-straight year in the Harbor Invitational. Last season, UMass Boston defeated the Knights 74-70 in the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
Friday night's game was a battle of styles, with the Beacons starting four players shorter than six feet, while the Knights started four players who stood at 6-3 or above.
From the opening tip, the Beacons worked to speed up the Knights and were aggressive in the passing lanes and transition, in an effort to knock the visitors off their game.
The plan worked perfectly, as the Beacons forced 29 Vermont Tech turnovers and earned a 38-10 edge in points off turnovers. Despite their big size disadvantage, the Beacons also carried a 43-36 edge on the glass.
With the two teams tied at 4-4 at the first media timeout, Kirksey started a 13-2 Beacons run with nine of the Beacons' 13 points during the stretch.
After grabbing the 11-point advantage (17-6), UMass Boston never looked back, as they pushed it out to as many as 17 in the first half. Vermont Tech closed the half on a 5-3 run, to cut the deficit to 37-24.
UMass Boston wasn't taking any chances and quickly stretched the lead to 32 in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. The Beacons put the game away for good with a 16-0 run spanning 5:11.
Holey hit a layup at 15:31 to cut the deficit to 46-30, but that would be all the scoring the Knight would get until the 9:55 mark. Six different Beacons scored during the 16-0 run, with Lee leading the pack with four points.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field and 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from distance. On the opposite side, the Knights knocked down 36.8 percent (21-of-57) of their shots and just 2-of-15 (13.3 percent) of their 3-point looks.
- The Beacons earned a big 26-9 edge in bench points, thanks to 15 from Cesar and eight from freshman Dasan Cinelli (Boston, Mass.).
- Freshman Muhaned Ghabour (Arlington, Mass.) hit a 3-pointer in the second half for his collegiate basket.
- UMass Boston is 3-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 season. In 2014-15, the Beacons started 5-0, in former head coach Charlie Titus' final season.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will take on the winner of Daniel Webster College and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Beacons will be looking for their ninth all-time Harbor Invitational Title, after losing in the final in each of the past three seasons.
