UMass Boston scored the first basket during Tuesday night’s tilt against Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After that, it was all downhill for the Beacons, who suffered an 89-39 home loss.

During a game that featured turnovers, poor shooting, and a porous defense, Coach Charlie Titus summed up the game in the simplest way possible. “We just didn’t show up tonight,” the coach remarked.

Starters Amigo Paniagua, A.J. Titus and Mark Doran each contributed 8 points to pace the Beacons (1-6), but got only 10 points from their bench, compared to WPI’s 42. Paniagua also contributed 11 rebounds as well as two steals and a block in 26 minutes. Doran also sank two three pointers and had a steal in 19 minutes of action.

The lop-sided loss was hard to swallow, but Titus has seen plenty in his 30 years at the helm of the program to know that brighter days are ahead. “We are a young team, but it’s not an excuse. We need to play better than that,” Titus said. The Beacons’ 39 points marked the first time since the inception of the shot clock that WPI held an opponent under 40 points.

The offense struggled to get going early, as turnovers handicapped any chance of making a run at WPI (6-2). “We had 20 turnovers in the first half,” Titus said. “That’s not going to get it done.” WPI took advantage of the opportunities handed their way, outscoring the Beacons 44-9 off 34 turnovers, a season-high.

The Beacons shot 26.9% from the field, but did convert on 38.5% of their 3 point attempts. Also hurting the Beacons was an inability to get to the free throw line, as they were held without a free-throw attempt until the second half.

WPI’s Antoine Coleman led the Engineers with 17 points and 7 rebounds in only 20 minutes of action while junior guard Jerome Kirkland added 15 points. Ben Parker scored 10 points and had 4 steals coming off the bench. Coleman looked unstoppable at times and showed a versatile game, hitting three treys while finishing 6 for 10 from the floor.