Men's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to UMASS Boston

Boston, Mass. - The Plymouth State men's basketball team lost to LEC rival UMass Boston in the closing seconds Monday night. Trailing 64-63 with 6.6 seconds remaining, The Beacons used a Brian Clarke basket and a defensive stop to earn the victory.

The game winning play put a close to a frantic final minute of play. The Beacons scored seven points in the final minute, five of which came from sophomore guard Vinny DeLucia. Plymouth used a Kevin Eisenberg 3-pointer with 1:13 left to up their lead to 62-58, but DeLucia would spark UMass Boston to rally past the Panthers.

DeLucia, the reigning conference Rookie of the Year, converted on a non-conventional three-point play, and added another bucket to give the Beacons a 63-62 lead with just 40 seconds remaining.

Panthers star Petey Skevas responded with a clutch basket to temporarily put the Panthers back in front. Skevas finished the game with 16 points while dishing out a game-high nine assists.

Trailing again by one point, the ball would make its way into DeLucia's hands again. With the shot clock dwindling down and Plymouth defenders draped all over him, DeLucia threw up a shot attempt that would fall just short, but will right into the hands of Clarke, and the tall sophomore would convert, giving the Beacons the lead for good with six seconds remaining.

Clarke's big shot capped off an impressive performance, as the big man went 8-for-11 from the filed, finishing with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds. DeLucia also chipped in nine points, while junior Rahshjeem Benson tossed in 12 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds.

For Plymouth, sophomore Alex Burt had a huge game, finishing with a game-high 18 points for the Panthers. To go along with Skevas' 16 points, freshman Uche Nwokeji and Eisenberg each scored 10 points.

PSU dropped to 2-10 in LEC play and 6-17 overall, and will play its final two regular season games at home, starting Wednesday night against the University of Southern Maine. UMass Boston improved to 5-7 in LEC play and 11-11 overall, and will conclude their regular season on the road, beginning Wednesday night at UMass Dartmouth.