With the win UMass Boston remains tied atop of the LEC with a 10-3 mark in conference action and improves to 15-9 overall. The loss drops the Huskies to 10-14 overall and 3-10 in the Little East.
Barros knocked down 10 of his 25 shots en route to the game-high 29 points, including a 5-for-14 effort from three point range to lead two UMass Boston players in double-figures. Sophomore forward Mark Doran (South Boston, Mass./Savio Prep) netted 19 points for the Beacons on 7-for-12 shooting.
Southern Maine senior forward Bill Hardwick (Boothbay, Maine/Boothbay Region) scored 22 points while sophomore guard Andy Frost (Brewer,Maine/Brewer) chipped in with nine points four assists and two steals. Junior guard Foster Oakley (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue) and freshman guard Charlie O’Neill (Seymour, Conn./Wilbraham and Monson) added eight points each.
Trailing by 10 points midway through the second half 53-43 following one of two three-pointers from UMass Boston’s Doran at the 11:05 mark, the Huskies came back to take a slim 56-55 lead over the next four minutes and to claw themselves back into the game.
Following the three from Doran, USM outscored the Beacons 13-2. O’Neill keyed the run with an offensive rebound and a put-back on his own miss. Hardwick capped the run with a steal and a jumper to give USM its first lead, 56-55, since the opening play of the game, with 6:59 to go.
However, UMass Boston responded to the Huskies offensive spurt scoring six unanswered points on a lay up from freshman center Rodney Bennett (Boston, Mass./Newton North) and four consecutive points from Doran on two free throws and lay-up to take a 61-56 lead with 4:58 left on the clock. The Huskies twice cut the lead to two points, trailing 63-61 with 4:08 showing on a jumper from Harwick, but it was as close as they would get the rest of the way as UMass Boston countered with back-to-back lay ups from Barros and senior forward Charles Yuan (Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical) to go ahead 67-61 with 1:44 to play and then made 5-of-7 free throws for the 72-67 final.
Southern Maine returns to action Saturday (February 18) at home against Keene State College in its regular season finale at 3 p.m. UMass Boston travels to Rhode Island College for its final regular-season game on the same date at 3 p.m.