BOSTON, MA. (February 14, 2025) – The Beacons' men's basketball team (11-11, 6-8 Little East Conference) will play one of two final home games remaining in the 2024-25 LEC regular season on Saturday, February 15, at 2:00 p.m. against the LEC seventh-seeded Plymouth State Panthers (11-11, 4-9 LEC) from the Clark Gymnasium.

The Beacons are seeking redemption after dropping their first match against the Panthers on the road earlier this season (70-85). In the last seven matchups against the Panthers, the Beacs are 5-2 overall and 3-0 at home. Their last victory over Plymouth State came in February of 2024 when UMass Boston outlasted the Panthers 76-74, led by a 30-piece from Emanuel Zayas (Hollywood, Fla.). The Last time the Panthers took to the Clark Gymnasium in January of 2024, the Beacons persevered in another wire-to-wire finish (66-64), led by 18 points from Connor Walden (Malden, Mass.).

The Beacons have split their last eight games, with their most recent win coming against the LEC sixth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies (87-82) in Boston. UMass Boston is 4-4 at the Clark Gymnasium this season, with the most significant home victories coming over Salem State University (85-78), and Eastern Connecticut State University (77-70). As a unit, the Beacons are scoring 77.3 points per contest, and average 36.6 rebounds, 12.2 assists, nine steals, and 3.3 blocks per game. Offensively, they are led by a consistent trio in Zayas, sophomore Xavier McKenzie (Lowell, Mass.) and first-year Raphel Laurent (Peabody, Mass.), with Zayas and McKenzie each averaging 16.1 PPG, followed by Laurent with 12.4 PPG. Zayas leads the defensive charge on the perimeter with 1.8 steals per game, followed by Laurent and McKenzie with 1.4 SPG each. Graduate forward Mark Barrett (Brookline, Mass.) has left his mark this season, with 7.7 PPG and team highs in rebounds, with 128 total in 22 games (5.8 RPG), and blocks per game with 21 in 22 games. Barrett and Zayas share the playmaking load, with Zayas averaging 3.4 assists per game, followed by Barrett with 3.2 per game.

The Panthers are 2-3 in their last five and most recently secured a four-point victory on the road over the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans. On the road, the Panthers are 2-7. Offensively, the unit scores 75.1 PPG, and averages 35.2 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 12.0 steals and 3.2 blocks per game. The Panthers have a trio of double-digit nightly scorers, led by Kevin Henry, with a team-high scoring (19.3 PPG), and rebounding (6.5 RPG), while averaging 2.1 steals per game.

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