UMass Boston was bested decidengly by Keene State in the Little East Conference Semifinals, 95-75, as the Owls advanced to their fourth consecutive LEC finals appearance, on Thursday, Feb. 27.
After tripling up the Beacons just 10 minutes into the game at 30-10, the Owls never turned their heads again with five players hitting double figures—including star guard Octavio Brito, who scored 13 on only 8 attempts. Brito, a senior, averages 22.5 points per game on just under 15 shots a night.
Instead of a Brito beatdown—which occurred when the Owls ran the Beacons out of the very same gym, he had a 42 in a 116-87 UMass Boston breakdown, their worst loss of the year excluding their exhibition against Division I UMass Amherst—the wealth was spread everywhere.
Keene State hit 50% of their threes, 14/28, and eight Owls knocked in at least one. UMass Boston, on the other hand, couldn’t create any space offensively. The Beacons turned it over eight times while assisting on just four shots, a 0.5 assist to turnover ratio. Keene State was in their grill and the energy was all in their favor, for all 40 minutes.
UMass Boston was rattled from the jump and struggled to find any groove. They were outrebounded by the Owls but just a pair, committed an equal number of fouls, and even got eight more shots up. Shot quality was the name of the game, and Keene State was able to find clean looks all night long. Just when the Beacons would get a gritty bucket by way of an offensive rebound, or some sort of second chance point, Keene State would stick a dagger-feeling three on the other end, often from great action.
It felt eerily easy for the Owls.
The Beacons’ go-to guy, Emanuel Zayas, was almost completely eliminated on the offensive end, scoring just nine points on 30% from the field. This will, in all likelihood, be Zayas’ final game with UMass Boston. The guard from Hollywood, Florida finishes his Beacons career averaging 12.8 points. 3.1 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game over four seasons. He earned All-LEC second team a year ago, and helped deliver UMass Boston with their first playoff win in five years in the quarterfinal round against Southern Maine.
Zayas’ 27 points in the quarterfinals was matched by freshman Raphel Laurent who was, for the second straight game, the best Beacon on the floor, this time against Keene State. Alongside Kobe Bryant and Kyrie Irving, Laurent lists Zayas as one of his favorite athletes. After his 23 point performance in the semifinals, he’ll look to help fill some big shoes in the following year of 2026.
Notably, the Beacons hope to get Cameron Perkins back next year. As a freshman, the forward put up 25.8 points per game along with 7.7 rebounds in six games this season. Perkins tore his shoulder before he could really get rolling, and fell into the category of critical injuries that infected UMass Boston’s year of 2025.
