Brad Schoonmaker drained a three-pointer with 1:18 left to play in overtime to give Suffolk a 77-74 lead, but freshman forward Alberto Paniagua (Dorchester, MA) answered with a lay-up 17 seconds later to pull UMass Boston to within 77-76. The Beacons gained possession with seven seconds left in the game and took a timeout, but were unable to score as Schoonmaker stole the ball to seal UMass Boston’s fate.
The Beacons owned a 54-43 lead with 13:47 left to play in the second half, before the Rams reeled off 11 straight points, capped by a three-point play, including a free throw, from Peter Thompson, who scored seven points during the run to pull Suffolk even at 54-54 with 9:15 remaining in the contest.
The Rams never led for the remainder of the second half and UMass Boston owned a 70-65 advantage with 1:19 left on the second half clock, before Chris Emma converted a lay-up for Suffolk with 47 seconds left to go in regulation and Schoonmaker nailed a trey with 18 seconds left in the second half to make it a tie game at 70-70, thus forcing overtime.
John Murphy knocked down a three-pointer to give the Rams an early 5-3 edge with 16:11 on the first half clock, but the Beacons came back with a 21-6 run, fueled by six points from senior guard Roger Perry (Roxbury, MA), to give UMB a 24-11 advantage with 9:19 to go in the first session. The Beacons maintained a 30-19 lead with 5:36 showing in the first half, before Suffolk closed the half on a 15-8 run to cut the UMass Boston lead to 38-34 at the intermission.
Emma led the Rams with 16 points and four assists, while adding five rebounds and a steal. Schoonmaker finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Josh Morelock posted a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards to go with two steals and a pair of assists. Peter Thompson also contributed with 11 points, seven rebounds, a steal and an assist in 23 minutes off the bench.
Junior guard Eric T. Bateman (Glassboro, NJ) led the Beacons with a game-high 19 points on 8-14 shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds and passing for four assists. Perry dropped in 15 points and now has 995 for his career. He also added a game-best eight assists in addition to four rebounds and three steals. Paniagua ended the night with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal for UMB.
The Beacons will be in action again when they travel to Danbury, CT on Saturday, December 4 to open the Little East Conference slate at Western Connecticut State University at 3:00 p.m.