The UMass Boston men’s basketball team’s short four-game winning streak was stopped in overtime Wednesday, Dec 4, by Rhode Island College, 90-83. The Beacons brought the game back late in overtime after three points from Xavier McKenzie, trailing by just one with just under a minute to go; however, no stops were to come for UMass Boston, who couldn’t get one in the last 1:53 of play.
Ousmane Kourouma, the 6’7, 240-pound forward for the Anchormen, was their driving force in OT. He scored eight points along with three boards in the period and finished the game with 26 points and 19 rebounds, dominating the night. Nobody on the Beacons could handle Kourouma — Mark Barrett fouled out trying — and UMass Boston’s freshman phenom, Cam Perkins, came up just short of carrying them to a win offensively. Perkins contrasted Ousmane’s night with 35 points and 9 rebounds, shooting 12/19 from the field.
Perkins has been scorching over his last three games following the loss to Rhode Island, averaging 29 points per game.
Struggling to score is star senior guard Emanuel Zayas. Battling foul trouble, Zayas put up 11 points on Wednesday night with just nine field goal attempts. It’s the second time his field goal attempts have dropped under 10 this year, already matching last year’s total — one of which he left with an injury after playing 15 minutes. His volume has dropped off, causing a drop of 18 to 14.5 points per game after last season as of their game on Wednesday.
McKenzie, who didn’t play all of last season, played 40 minutes against the Anchormen and catalyzed the Beacons’ late comeback. He also dribbled the ball off his foot in their last gasp down five with under 10 seconds remaining. McKenzie hadn’t shot the ball well all night, until the late fourth. He led the team in assists, with four, and ran the offense with Zayas in foul trouble.
Making his season debut on Wednesday was Connor Waldon. Waldon finished second in scoring for the Beacons a year ago and played 14 minutes against the Anchorman. At 8 points and 3 rebounds, it was a good debut for Waldon, who made a positive impact on the floor right away after sitting over three quarters of the way through the first half.
The Beacons bounced back following their loss to the Anchormen, beating Eastern Connecticut State 77-70 on Saturday, Dec 7. Cam Perkins stayed hot with 20 points and 9 rebounds off an efficient 6/10 shooting night — 2-4 from three.
Hector Perez had 14 points and was 2/2 from three; he’s shot .600 on 15 threes this year. Perez has seen a minutes boost over the last four games, averaging 13.5 minutes while playing just 4.6 per game in his first three.
The Beacons are 5-2 now, and 2-1 in Little East Conference play. They haven’t lost by more than seven, which came in overtime. UMass Boston looks like a highly talented, competitive team through seven games, and can get even better with the ramp-up of Connor Walden.
