Senior Paul Kemp of UMass Boston scored 13 points and five steals in 30 minutes of action, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Keene State’s Derek Swenson’s 27-point effort (18 in the second half) as the Owls remained undefeated in the young basketball season by beating the Beacons 87-78 at the Clark Athletic Center.
The Owls are the reigning Little East Conference champs and they looked it. However, the Beacons took the champs to overtime in a thrilling game when Keene State came to town last year. The Owls impressed in many areas as the team shot 49% from the floor by 25 field goals out of 51 attempts and converted 75% of their free throws. Their quickness and tenacity on the boards forced the Beacons into foul trouble early.
The play in the first half, however, was anything but one sided. UMB jumped out to a fast 11-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Beacons started the game by pushing the ball up the floor at every possible opportunity, leading to some easy lay-ups. Sophomore Billy Allen led the Beacons early on by converting his first four field goal attempts.
Keene State countered the early Beacon run by employing the half-court trap, which they executed effectively and forced the Beacons to commit some turnovers. The Owls came back to take the lead 25-24 on a trey from junior forward Chris Timson.
The Beacons battled back and forth for the remainder of the first half. The Beacons looked to be taking a lead into the locker room when sophomore Yassin Osman hit a lay up with ten seconds left. However, with 0.7 seconds left and Keene State inbounding the ball near half court, Owl Alphonse Michalski sent a perfect alley-oop pass to teammate Matthew Wheeler. Wheeler leapt into the air and caught and shot the ball off the glass in one smooth motion to give the Owls a 37-36 lead.
Both teams started the second half by trying to run the ball, with Keene State being more successful of the two. The fouls started to accumulate for the Beacons; Allen picked up his fourth of the game with more than seventeen minutes remaining, forcing him to sit on the bench for an extensive period of time.
Kemp was the Beacons’ most visibly active player for UMB, scoring inside and crashing the boards on both ends. Yet, it did little to diffuse the Keene State energy. The Owls outran and out rebounded the Beacons for a significant stretch of time, twice building a lead as high as 16 points. The Beacons also continued to have foul trouble as sophomore Roderic J. Joseph earned his fourth foul during the Owl run.
UMB coach Charlie Titus inserted a taller lineup to counter the edge the Owls had in the paint. However, Allen fouled out soon after. The Beacons did fight back enough to cut the Keene State lead to seven points, but it was too little, too late.
The Beacons suffered another defeat on Monday, December 8 against Clark University, 92-68. The team’s record stands at 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the Little East Conference. The Beacons next play at home today (December 12) against Salem State.