It was not meant to be. The UMass-Boston men’s basketball team needed a win over the second place Western Connecticut State Colonials, coupled with a Southern Maine University loss, in order to secure the final berth in this weekend’s Little East Conference tournament. However, strong guard play by Western Connecticut State, led by senior Kevin Matthews (25 points), dashed the hopes of the Beacons, who lost 95-73.

The Beacons ran off to a strong start, scoring the first seven points of the game. The Colonials came back, though, twice taking leads of 16-15 and 20-17. The Beacons took their last lead of the night at 21-20 when Roderic Jean-Joseph put an offensive rebound back up and in. However, Greg Cole drained two three-pointers which led a 13-2 Colonial run to take a ten-point lead. UMB did slice the lead to five at 40-35 by halftime on the strength of Lester Robinson’s three buckets and one free throw.

The second half proved to be depressing for the Beacons. Matthews deposited seven points in the first two and a half minutes, driving the Colonial lead up to nine. The Beacons never could put a run together and as the minutes of the game decreased, the Colonial lead increased. Freshman Billy Allen (10 points and 13 rebounds) and Jean-Joseph (10 points and 9 rebounds) were forced to sit on the bench much of the second half due to foul trouble. Despite some late points by Robinson (22 points for the game), Western Connecticut State put the hammer down for the final deficit of 22 points.

Coach Charlie Titus complimented the Colonials after the game, “They are a better team. When you have strong guard play in college basketball, you usually win. We became tired and they took advantage. But I am proud of my players.”