BOSTON, Mass. – Senior forward Omar Boone hit a turnaround jumper for Colby-Sawyer College and freshman guard Xavier McKenzie's floater at the buzzer went in and out as UMass Boston Men's Basketball fell in a thrilling home opener, 80-79, inside Clark Athletic Center on Tuesday night.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 79, Colby-Sawyer College 80
UMass Boston (1-2)
Colby-Sawyer College (1-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior forward
Malik Lorquet had a first half to remember for the Beacons, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 12 rebounds in 18 minutes on the court. Lorquet would score the first four points for the UMass Boston, who took a 4-0 lead early on before Colby-Sawyer would go on the attack from three-point range.
Trailing 19-18, the Chargers went on a 13-2 run thanks to four three pointers from three different Colby-Sawyer players, including two from Boone to take a 10-point lead, 31-21. Lorquet's play down the stretch of the first half would help the Beacons pull within one heading into the halftime break, 41-40, after sophomore guard Emanuel Zayas hit a layup for a minute to go.
A layup by McKenzie to start the second half gave UMass Boston their first lead since their 19-18 lead with 13:37 left in the first half, 42-41. A 5-0 run by senior guard Scott Lampron put the Chargers back ahead by four and seemingly in control as UMass Boston would pull within one or tie up the game repeatedly before Colby-Sawyer would regain their composure in the contest.
After three ties, the Beacons would take the lead on a Lorquet jumper, 61-59, with 10:43 left in regulation but the Chargers attack continued and a pair of shots from senior forward Conor Kelly, three from senior guard Zack Carabello, and three points from Boone mixed in with a Lorquet jumper put Colby-Sawyer ahead by eight, 71-63.
The Chargers would take their first and only double-digit lead with 6:37 left on an and-one from senior guard Terrance Harvey Jr., 74-64, before the Beacons came roaring back into the game. Back-to-back threes from junior guard Bobby Joy and senior guard Mariano Olivier-Rodriguez cut the deficit to four points with 5:18 left in regulation, then a layup from Zayas brought the deficit down to two.
Another three from Olivier-Rodriguez and a layup from McKenzie put UMass Boston back in front with 2:53 to go, 77-76, before a pair of free throws from Boone with 1:08 to go put the Chargers back ahead by one. Stealing the ball with 23 seconds left, Lorquet put the Beacons ahead with his breakaway layup, 79-78, forcing Colby-Sawyer to call timeout.
Out of the timeout, Boone hit a fadeaway jump with 7.2 seconds left on the clock to give the Chargers an 80-79 lead. Looking for the game winner, McKenzie drove in on Kelly in the paint, floating a shot that clanked off the back of the rim and then the front of the rim before falling out at the buzzer as UMass Boston dropped their first home game of the season, 80-79.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Malik Lorquet finished the game scoring 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting with a career-high 19 rebounds in 36 minutes played
- Omar Boone recorded 22 points, including the game winning shot, on 7-of-15 shooting with nine rebounds in the contest
- There were 10 ties and 11 lead changes between the two teams in the game
- UMass Boston shot 42.9% from the floor compared to Colby-Sawyer's 41.9%
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will play in the Black Collegiate Coaches Classic featuring Tufts University, Framingham State University, and Lesley University on Saturday afternoon. The first game of the day will be between Tufts and Framingham State at 5:00 PM while the Beacons will face off with Lesley at 7:30 PM.
