Box Score PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Junior Charles Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) led four Beacons in double-figures, to help UMass Boston men's basketball defeat Little East Conference leaders Rhode Island College 72-68 on Saturday afternoon at the Murray Center.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 72, Rhode Island College 68
(UMass Boston 11-5, LEC 5-2)
(Rhode Island College 13-4, LEC 6-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mitchell finished 5-11 from distance and added three rebounds and three assists to cap off a career week.
Senior Dasan Cinelli (Boston, Mass.) recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Six of Cinelli's 11 rebounds came on the offensive boards.
Michael Boyd (Malden, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Off the bench, senior Mark Munroe (Quincy, Mass.) put together his most complete game as a Beacon. The center finished 5-10 from the field for a season-high 11 points and added nine rebounds, one assist and one block.
Shion Darby, the LEC's leading scorer, paced the hosts with 23 points on 7-28 shooting. He added a game-high eight assists against seven turnovers and chipped in six rebounds.
Benjamin Vezele posted 18 points and nine rebounds and Tim Deng registered 14 points and 11 rebounds.
After UMass Boston built an early 20-12 lead (11:03 left), the Anchormen used a 9-1 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes (30-28).
Rhode Island College built a 3-point lead late in the half, only for Charles Mitchell to drain a 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play to tie the game at 36-36 at halftime.
UMass Boston came out of the break red-hot. Boyd opened the half with a layup, before Mitchell knocked down a 3-pointer. Cinelli capped off the run with a layup of his own, to give the Beacons a 43-36 edge with 17:20 to play.
Rhode Island College answered back with a 6-0 run of their own and the two teams would go back-and-forth before an 8-0 Beacons run.
Munroe proved to be crucial during the game-changing run, as he recorded six points, three rebounds and one assist during the 8-0 flurry.
Rhode Island College cut the deficit to five with under three minutes to play, but Mitchell and Malik Lorquet (Sharon, Mass.) each hit clutch shots to keep the Anchormen at bay.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With the win, UMass Boston moved within a-half-a game of first-place in the LEC. The Beacons sit in second-place overall (5-2), just one win behind Rhode Island College (6-2).
- UMass Boston shot 38.6 percent (27-70) from the field, 36.0 percent (9-25) from distance and 90.0 percent (9-10) from the free throw line.
- The Beacons have won a program-best, nine-straight games against Rhode Island College. Head coach Jason Harris, a RIC alum, is 9-1 against his alma-mater as head coach of the Beacons.
- Charles Mitchell sits 16th in program history with his 929 career points. He is just seven points shy of moving into 15th and 71 shy of 1,000 for his career.
- UMass Boston's bench combined to outscored the Anchormen's bench 17-2. Munroe and freshman Mariano Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) combined to score all 17 points.
- With the win, head coach Jason Harris improves to 60-60 for his career at UMass Boston.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston returns home for a two-game homestand on Wednesday, when they will host Plymouth State University at 5:30 p.m.
