Men's Hoops Drops Tight Affair Against UMass Boston

BOSTON, Mass. – An 18-7 run early in the second half, as well as a career-high 25 points from freshman Charles Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) carried the UMass Boston men's basketball to their first win of 2018 as they defeated Regis (Mass.) by the final of 75-72 Tuesday evening in the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 75, Regis 72

UMass Boston (7-5)
Regis (4-6)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Despite trailing by as many as 10-points, the Beacons rallied early in the second half and held off a late Regis run in the final five minutes to secure their second straight victory.  Mitchell's night consisted of a career-high seven 3-pointers, as the Boston native went 9-for-14 from the field, 7-for-11 behind the arc.  Off the bench, big-man Kevin Louis-Jean (Hyde Park, Mass.) finished with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while senior Dan Powers (Westwood, Mass.)  returned to the Beacons line-up with 14 points and nine rebounds. 

The Beacons took their first lead of the second half on a Powers lay-up less than five minutes in.  The Beacons would then battle as they pushed their lead to 10 following a lay-up by Mitchell around the midway point.  The Beacons would keep their multi-possession lead for most affair, and would hit the double-digit mark just one more time after Ty Lee (Boston, Mass.) drained a lay-up with 5:31 to go.

From there, the Pride would cut in the Beacons deficit on each possession, and eventually made it a one possession game thanks to a Roger Hamel (Huntington Beach, Calif.) 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation. 

On the next Beacons possession, Regis would foul Mitchell sending the freshman guard to the charity stripe.  Mitchell missed his first attempt, which gave the Pride one last shot at tying the contest. Pride junior Tim Broom (Jacksonville, Fla.) would get the ball, and as time expired put up a shot from right outside the 3-point arc.  The ball hit off the back of the rim as the final horn sounded.

The Beacons capped-off their second half resurgence with 20 points in the paint, and dropped in 13 points off-of nine Regis turnovers.

Over the final 20 minutes, the Beacons shot 48.5% from the field (16-33) and were 3-for-10 from distance.

For the Pride Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) registered 22 points and 11 rebounds.  Juvens Dalger (Oakland Park, Fla.) finished with 16 points, while Broom dropped in 12.

BY THE NUMBERS

• All-time Tuesday's contest marked just the second meeting between UMB and the Pride (1-1)
• Powers registered 15 of his 25 points in the first half, while Powers finished with 11 of his 14 points over the final 20 minutes of play
• Mitchell has now recorded 20 or more points four times this season, and twice in the last three games
• As a team the Beacons shot 44.1% (30-68) from the field and 39.1% (9-23) from 3-point range.
• Regis led on the glass 37-34 and had six blocked shots, while the Beacons finished with four

#RegisMBB

Release courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information.