BARROS NETS SCHOOL RECORD 48, LEADS UMASS BOSTON OVER WESTCONN, 88-82

Tony Barros (Dorchester, MA) scored a school-record 48 points and led the University of Massachusetts Boston men’s basketball team over Western Connecticut State University, 88-82 in the quarterfinals of the Little East Conference Tournament at Feldman Arena Tuesday night. The Beacons will face Keene State College, a 98-86 winner over Plymouth State University, on Friday, February 23 in Providence, RI on the campus of Rhode Island College in the semifinals.

Barros netted 55% of the Beacons points on 14 of 28 shooting from the field including seven long three pointers. He connected on 13 of 20 attempts from the free throw line and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with seven steals for the winners. He now has 1,904 career points to become just the second player in school annals to reach that plateau.

The game seemed to get far out of WestConn’s reach after UMass Boston built a 24-point lead with 14:25 remaining in the contest on two free throws by Barros. The Colonials battled back over the next 13 minutes and drew within three points, 81-78 following a follow-up lay in by Stephen Faulkner (Newington, CT) with 1:37 left.

The Beacons, now 10-16 on the season, won the battle from the charity strip, burying 22 of 34 attempts while the Colonials converted on 24 of 39 attempts and missed 13 of 23 tries in the second stanza.

After WestConn closed within three, the Beacons canned seven of 10 freebies including three of four attempts by A. J. Titus (Roxbury, MA) in the final 20 seconds.

Titus, Amigo Paniagua (Santiago, DR) and Mark Doran (South Boston, MA) each added 10 points for UMass Boston, which will now play the winner of the Plymouth State at Keene State quarterfinal that started later on Tuesday.

Carlos Pellot (Carmel, NY) led the Colonials, 14-12 with 24 points on 10 of 18 shooting from the field.