QUINCY, Mass.—Iser Barnes (Boston, Mass.) and Careem Kirksey (Dorchester, Mass.) combined for 40 points, to lead UMass Boston men's basketball past host Eastern Nazarene College Thursday night at Lahue PE Center.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 75, Eastern Nazarene College 70

(UMass Boston 6-2)

(Eastern Nazarene 4-5)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Barnes gave the Beacons the lead with 13:29 remaining and the Beacons never gave it back, in winning their third-straight road contest.

The junior guard paced the Beacons with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. He also tacked on a game-high five steals in 39 minutes of action.

Kirksey was nearly as good, pouring in easily his most points as a Beacon, with 17 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Sam Freeman (Boston, Mass.) and Neil Cesar (Randolph, Mass.) joined Barnes and Kirksey in double-figures, with 12 and 10 points respectively. Freeman added a team-high nine rebounds.

Senior forward Corey Doran paced the hosts with 21 points on an extremely efficient 9-of-11 showing. The Lions leading scorer was limited to just 21 minutes though, as he was in consistent foul trouble, and fouled out with 1:44 to play.

Christian Lynch (12 points), Patrick Michel (11 points) and David Eddings (10 points, six rebounds and six assists) all joined Doran in double-figures.

Neither side was ever fully able to wrestle full control of the contest, with the Beacons owning the largest lead of the game at eight points in the first half.

Eastern Nazarene opened the game on an 8-4 run in the opening 3:14, only to have the Beacons answer with a 12-2 flurry. Dan Powers (Westwood, Mass.), Barnes and Kirskey combined for all 12 of the Beacons points, with Powers posting five of the 12 points. 

The Beacons stretched their lead out to as many as eight (26-18) with 5:51 on a Barnes layup. Eastern Nazarene came all the way back to take a 32-30 advantage, only for UMass Boston to grab a 37-34 lead at the break.

The Lions kept the momentum going into the second half, as they used a 10-5 stretch to grab their only lead of the second stanza at 44-42.

Barnes countered with a 5-0 run by himself to give the Beacons the lead back for good at 13:29 (47-44).

From there, UMass Boston would cling to their lead for the rest of the way, with the advantage yo-yoing between one and seven points. Despite having several of their top players in foul troubles, the Beacons coaching staff mixed and matched their lineups in an effort to keep the lead.

With UMass Boston leading by seven and 3:10 to play, Eastern Nazarene kept chipping away and cut the lead to 73-70 with 22 seconds left.

On their final offensive possession of the game, Barnes and Kirksey both were too strong on layup attempts, but Freeman clawed the rebound away and was fouled. The senior knocked down both free throws to ice the game and clinch the Beacons their fourth road win in five games.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston knocked down 44.6 percent (25-of-56) of their shot from the field. They also hit 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from distance and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the free throw line.
• With the win, UMass Boston matched their win total from the 2015-16 season.  The Beacons are 4-1 on the road this season, as compared to a 2-10 showing a year ago.
• Kirksey's previous career-high as a Beacon was 10 points against Vermont Technical College.
• Eastern Nazarene was limited to a 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) showing from behind the arc.
• UMass Boston improved to 12-4 all-time against Eastern Nazarene College.

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will finish off their five-game road trip on Saturday, when they travel to two-time defending Little East Conference Tournament Champion Keene State College on Saturday at 1 p.m.