Barros broke his own school record of 46 points and now has scored 40 or more points three times this season. He netted 55% of the Beacons points on 14 of 28 shooting from the field including seven long three pointers. He connected on 13 of 20 attempts from the free throw line and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for the winners.
The game seem to get far out of WestConn’s reach after UMass Boston built a 24-point lead with 14:25 remaining in the contest on two free throws by Barros. The Colonials battled back over the next 13 minutes and drew within three points, 81-78 following a follow-up lay in by Stephen Faulkner (Newington, CT) with 1:37 left.
The Beacons, now 10-16 won the battle from the charity strip, burying 22 of 34 attempts while the Colonials converted on 24 of 39 attempts and missed 13 of 23 tries in the second stanza.
After WestConn closed within three, the Beacons canned seven of 10 freebies including three of four attempts by A. J. Titus (Roxbury, MA) in the final 20 seconds.
Titus, Amigo Paniagua (Santiago, DR) and Mark Doran (South Boston, MA) each added 10 points for UMass Boston, which will now play the winner of the Plymouth State at Keene State quarterfinal that started later on Tuesday.
Carlos Pellot (Carmel, NY) led the Colonials, 14-12 with 24 points on 10 of 18 shooting from the field.
Jamie Procino (Yorktown Heights, NY) added 17 points and had a team-high eight rebounds despite being hampered with foul trouble in the second half.
Faulkner and Tony Peluso (Southbury, CT) each scored 13 points while Tyshawn Gillespie (Hartford, CT) added 11 markers in the loss.
WestConn will wait to see if its 14-12 record is good enough to earn a trip to the ECAC Tournament which begins February 28. Invitations come out this Sunday for the eight-team field.
UMASS BOSTON 88 (#6 10-16) Tony Barros 14-28 13-20 48; Mark Doran 4-9 0-0 10; A.J. Titus 2-4 6-8 10; Amigo Paniagua 5-8 0-0 10; Eli Manna 2-4 0-1 4; Anthony Matlock 1-2 1-2 4; Terrell Maddox 0-0 2-3 2; Aaron Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Wolf Jules 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 22-34 88. WESTERN CONNECTICUT 82 (#3 14-12) Carlos Pellot 10-18 4-9 24; Jamie Procino 6-12 5-7 17; Stephen Faulkner 6-9 1-3 13; Tony Peluso 2-5 8-10 13; Tyshawn Gillespie 2-9 6-8 11; Marcus Mann 2-3 0-0 4; Emory Lewis 0-1 0-0 0; Lionel Assie 0-0 0-0 0; Taeshon Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; Kevin Marchant 0-0 0-0 0; Anthony Raggi 0-0 0-0 0; Hampton Miller 0-1 0-0 0; Jeff Cappa 0-7 0-2 0. Totals 28-65 24-39 82. UMass Boston.................. 43 45 - 88 Western Connecticut........... 34 48 - 82 3-point goals--UMass Boston 10-23 (Tony Barros 7-16; Mark Doran 2-3; Anthony Matlock 1-2; Amigo Paniagua 0-2), Western Connecticut 2-14 (Tony Peluso 1-2; Tyshawn Gillespie 1-5; Emory Lewis 0-1; Jeff Cappa 0-5; Carlos Pellot 0-1). Fouled out--UMass Boston-Eli Manna; Wolf Jules; Amigo Paniagua, Western Connecticut-Stephen Faulkner. Rebounds--UMass Boston 40 (Tony Barros 13), Western Connecticut 38 (Stephen Faulkner 8). Assists--UMass Boston 14 (Mark Doran 6), Western Connecticut 18 (Tyshawn Gillespie 5). Total fouls—Umass Boston 30, Western Connecticut 27. Technical fouls--UMass Boston-None, Western Connecticut-TEAM. A-315