BOSTON, MA – Sophomore guard Tony Barros (Dorchester, MA) scored 31 points in 26 minutes off the bench to lead the University of Massachusetts Boston men’s basketball team over number 25 Salem State College, 101-84, on Thursday, December 9, at the Clark Athletic Center on the UMass Boston campus. The Beacons improve to 4-5 on the season, while the Vikings, who are nationally ranked by d3hoops.com, suffer their first loss of the season and fall to 7-1.
Salem State owned a 22-12 lead with 12:14 showing in the first half before UMass Boston went on a 19-8 run behind seven points apiece from Barros and senior forward Eddie Ramos (Malden, MA), to take a 31-30 edge with 4:36 left in the first session. Barros drained one of his five trifectas in the game to give the Beacons a 39-32 advantage at the 2:19 mark of the first stanza for UMB’s biggest lead of the half. The Vikings got the lead down to 41-38 after a trey from Ifesinachi Anosike with 25 seconds left in the half, but senior guard Eric Summerville (Little Rock, AR) answered for the Beacons with a three of his own with just five seconds left to make it a 44-38 halftime score.
UMass Boston owned a 49-42 lead with 17:31 to go in the second half, but went on an 18-10 run, led by six points from freshman forward Alberto Paniagua (Dorchester, MA), to take a 67-52 advantage with 11:38 showing on the second half clock. Salem State later cut he margin to 69-61 with 8:14 left in the game, but it would be as close as it would get, as the Beacons went on a 20-10 burst, paced by five points from senior forward James L. Hall (Jacksonville, FL), to take an 89-71 lead. UMass Boston would lead by as many as 21 points before the Vikings scored the game’s final four points for a 101-84 final score.
It marks the fourth time in school history that the Beacons have scored 100-plus points in back-to-back games as they follow Saturday’s 104-point output vs. Western Connecticut State University with tonight’s effort. The last time that UMB tallied 100 or more points in two straight games was during the 1990-91 season when it netted 100 points vs. Fitchburg State College and followed it with 112 vs. Emerson College.
Barros was 10-15 from the floor, including 5-9 from three-point range and added three rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block to his night, while Summerville netted 17 points on 6-9 from the field to go with three assists. Paniagua dropped in 14 points, while grabbing five rebounds, passing for three assists, making a pair of steals and blocking a shot. Senior guard Roger Perry (Roxbury, MA) led all playmakers with a career-high 10 assists in addition to nine points, four rebounds and two steals.
Anosike led Salem State College with a double-double of 24 points and 10 boards to go with five blocks, an assist and a steal and was 8-10 from the floor, but 8-22 from the free throw line to contribute to a 17-36 night from the charity stripe for the Vikings. Allen Reid netted 22 points, while dishing for eight assists, pulling down three caroms and making three steals. Tyler Lang contributed with 11 points, eight rebounds, a steal and an assist.