The Massachusetts men’s basketball team broke a two-game losing skid with an 86-52 win over UMass Boston. The Beacons (5-3) made the trip to Amherst as a Division III team competing in the Little East conference. The Minutemen (4-7) stayed focused against their opponent throughout the entire game and dominated most facets of the stat sheet on the way to this win.
“I was happy to see some of our guys have positive results individually,” head coach Frank Martin said “We’re still trying to become a team, we’re not there yet. I think we’re in a better place than what we were a month ago.”
Malek Abdelgowad and Daniel Rivera were the driving forces for UMass in the first half, leading the way for the Minutemen by commanding the paint. The starting frontcourt for the Minutemen was the spark for a 13-0 run early in the first half that UMass never looked back from.
After a three-pointer from Raphel Laurent tied the game at seven for UMass Boston, Abdelgowad went to work with back-to-back layups. Rivera continued the scoring streak with a follow on his own miss.
Substitutions took the two big men out of the game, but their scoring spirit remained as Shahid Muhammad and Nate Guerengomba got to the basket. Between those rim runs, Rahsool Diggins took advantage in transition by sticking a three. That broke a 0-of-8 streak that the senior had from beyond the arc from the game against UMass Lowell.
Down 13 points, Cameron Perkins and Xavier McKenzie each made a three for the Beacons to pull within seven of the Minutemen. UMass responded immediately with a 12-0 run, closed by eight straight points by Abdelgowad including the first two made threes of his college career.
Transition play was key in this run for the Minutemen as it was for the entire game. UMass, despite losing the turnover battle, ended the game with a 19-8 points off turnovers advantage, as well as a 32-2 fast break points advantage.
These gaps in the scoresheet can be attributed to the dominant rebounding and passing that the Minutemen displayed. UMass more than doubled its opponent’s totals on the glass with a 56-26 upper hand on the boards. This strong rebounding effort was led by Abdelgowad and Rivera as both members of the starting frontcourt secured a double-double. Abdelgowad finished with a career-high 26 points and 14 rebounds while Rivera put up 11 points and 10 rebounds in the first half and sat most of the second half.
As far as passing goes, Diggins and Marqui Worthy led the team with seven assists each as they pushed in transition and fed the paint consistently. Jaylen Curry wasn’t far behind with five assists and added an efficient 10 points, hitting both of his takes from beyond the arc.
“I think in general, we took a step in the right direction,” Martin said “I think offensively, we’re passing the ball to each other, I think we’re getting the ball to the places that as a coach we’re asking them to throw the ball to.”
In the second half, the Minutemen fell asleep at the wheel for a moment, allowing UMass Boston to cut the lead to 18, but a 12-2 run full of fastbreak buckets put the final effort from the Beacons to bed.
A true momentum-crushing play came with under nine minutes left as Muhammad blocked a pair of shots, leading to a transition alley-oop finish for Tarique Foster. The Mullins Center erupted as a timeout was called and the UMass bench cleared out to congratulate its teammates on the play. From that point on the Minutemen cruised to victory with a 31-point lead and not much time left to play.
Though UMass Boston’s efforts came short of its goal, McKenzie and Perkins made a solid effort as they each scored 13 points to lead the Beacons.
UMass will suit up again on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. against Northeastern, available to watch on NESN.
Tym Brown can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @tym_brown1.
