The University of Massachusetts Boston had both its men’s and women’s basketball teams eliminated in the first round of the Little East Conference (LEC) tournament. The men’s team was defeated by the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth 88-78 while the women’s team took their opponents Keene State to overtime before falling 94-82.
LEC First Team All-Conference Billy Allen led the Beacons in scoring against UMD with 19 points. Allen, a sophomore, was named to an All-Conference team for the second time. Last season, Allen received the LEC’s Freshman of the Year for the 2001-02 and made the conference’s Second Team.
Other Beacons that had productive days were center Jurvon Wallace (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Roger Perry (13 points, 5 assists). But the downfall for the Beacons was the team’s low field goal percentage, shooting 28 for 84 (33%). The team ends the season with a final record of 11-15.
The Corsairs were led in scoring by Brian Cagle (24 points). Second-Team All-Conference Tim Gaspar popped in 15 points and dished out seven assists.
In other first round LEC action, number one seed Western Connecticut State dispatched Southern Maine 95-81, while the second seed Plymouth State easily handled Rhode Island College 90-75. Third seed Keene State squeaked by Eastern Connecticut State 62-61.
UMass Dartmouth’s good fortune ran out in the semi-finals, being defeated by Western Connecticut State 77-74. In the other semi-final matchup, Plymouth State edged out in-state rival Keene State 82-76. Western Connecticut captured the LEC tournament the next day with a narrow 65-63 victory over Plymouth State. Junior forward Marvin Evans of Western Connecticut State was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The women’s team, however, saw an opportunity to advance to the LEC semi-finals go by the wayside as the Owls of Keene State fought back from a deficit to tie the score. Junior guard Indya Mitchell had a chance to win the game with a three pointer as time ran out, but the shot came up short, sending the game into overtime. Keene State then outscored the Beacons in the OT session 16-4. The Beacons finish their season with a final record of 14-12.
Two Beacons who had monster games were Jamila Gales, who scored her 1000th career point in the contest, led the Beacons with 33 points and 16 rebounds and Andreen Gilpin popped in 24 points to go along with her 16 rebounds.
On a happier note, Gilpin was named as a LEC First Team All-Conference selection. It was the second time that Gilpin has made a LEC All-Conference team (she was a Second Team selection in 2000-01 as a sophomore).