PSU earned the season sweep of UMB and improved to 19-4 overall and 9-3 in the LEC, while the Beacons drop to 5-18 overall and 1-11 in conference play. The Panthers, ranked seventh in this week’s Northeast regional poll, won for the fourth straight game and sixth time in the last seven outings.
Loughlin connected on a career-high six 3-point baskets (in 10 attempts), hitting on 7-of-14 overall from the field. He got plenty of help from classmate Ryan Chicoine (Gorham, Maine), who matched his season high with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Chicoine also collected 11 rebounds to register his third double-double of the season.
Adding to the Panther offense was junior Nick Pelotte (Bingham, Maine), who scored 17 points, freshman Andreas Pope (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who added 12 points off the bench, and junior Anthony Oglesby (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who recorded his eighth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 boards.
The Panther defense continued to stifle opponents, holding UMB to a 33.2 shooting percentage for the game, including 24 percent in the second half. PSU ranks fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (37.8).
Junior Eddie Ramos (Malden, Mass.) led the Beacons with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Roger Perry (Roxbury, Mass.) added 15 points and freshman Tony Barros (Dorchester, Mass.) chipped in with 10.
Plymouth State never trailed in the game, but didn’t pull away until the second half. The Panthers had a 15-point advantage (33-18) midway through the opening 20 minutes, but the Beacons got back to within five points (41-36) late in the half before the teams went to the locker room with PSU up, 43-36.
The Panthers maintained a double-digit lead most of the second half, going ahead by 18 with 11 minutes to play (67-49) before coasting home the rest of the way.
Both teams return to action with conference games at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, PSU hosting Southern Maine and UMB visiting UMass Dartmouth.