WILLIMANTIC, C.T. - Saturday's Little East Conference opener at Eastern Connecticut State was another banner day for UMass Boston Men's Basketball and their electrifying duo of guards. Emmanuel Zayas led all scorers with 23 points, followed closely behind by Bobby Joy who poured in 17 in the Beacons 66-60 victory over the Warriors.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 66, Eastern Connecticut State 60

UMass Boston (2-6, 1-0 LEC)
Eastern Connecticut State (1-7, 0-1 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
A fast start for Eastern saw the Beacons trailing 13-7 with 13:35 to play in the first half. A Zayas jumper and an Alex Woolery three-pointer cut the deficit to one. Five in a row for Joy and a quick six points in the paint for Cameron Love stretched the Beacons' lead to 10 with under nine minutes to play. Zayas squeezed a couple more buckets out of the Warriors' defense to put the visitors up 31-20 at the break.

In the second half, Eastern put together a run, cutting the Beacons' lead down to just three with 8:20 to play in the game. Needing a response, UMass Boston turned to their most reliable scorers. Zayas nailed a pair of free throws before hitting back-to-back buckets to push the lead to six. Joy was sent to the free throw line four times in the final four minutes of the game and put down all eight shots to ice the six-point victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Zayas' 19.9 points per game are just .1 shy of LEC leading scorer Jeff Hunter
• Adding to his career-high nine points, Woolery recorded a team-high four steals on Saturday
• Coming off the bench, Jordan Bruno grabbed seven rebounds in 26 minutes
• The Beacons scored 16 points off of fast breaks
• Saturday marked the Beacons' first win in Willimantic since January 4, 2020

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will host Western Connecticut State University at the Clark Athletic Center on Wednesday, December 6 at 7 PM.