BOSTON, Mass. – The Plymouth State University men's basketball team was defeated by the University of Massachusetts Boston, 82-66, in a Little East Conference (LEC) contest at Clark Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Panthers put forth a great showing considering the team was missing four of five opening day starters. PSU kept things close for a while, but the Beacons slowly pulled away with what ended up as a comfortable win.
 
Graduate student Tom Johnson (Warner, N.H.) led the Panthers with a career high 20 points, while junior Kyler Bosse (Manchester, N.H.) scored 19 points of his own. Senior Ty Thomas (Manchester, N.H.) also netted a career best with eight points in the losing effort.
 
Plymouth State falls to 9-13 (2-11 LEC) on the season, while the Beacons go to 14-7 and 7-5 in LEC play.
 
The Basics:

• Plymouth State 66, UMass Boston 82
  • Plymouth State (9-13, 2-11 LEC)
  • UMass Boston (14-7, 7-5 LEC)

Top Performers:

• Tom Johnson (20 pts, 6-11 fg, 3-5 3pt, 5-5 ft)
• Kyler Bosse (19 pts, 7 reb)
• Ty Thomas (8 pts, 3-8 fg)

How it Happened:

• The Panthers found themselves down a slim margin, 9-5, to start play with 16:18 to go in the first half.
• A 9-0 run catapulted PSU to a 14-9 lead at the 14:14 mark in the first.
• The Beacons responded immediately with an 11-0 run of their own to go up 23-16 with 7:52 remaining until halftime.
• Bosse scored the final bucket of the first half to cut the gap to 32-29 at the break.
• UMB came out quick to open the second half with eight straight points to take their first double-digit lead of the contest (40-29).
• The Panthers' offense was limited to five points over the first several minutes as the Beacons slowly built the lead to 16 points with 14:40 left in the contest.
• Plymouth State pulled to within 11, 50-39, at the 13:25 mark in the second.
• UMass Boston kept scoring just enough to keep Plymouth State from making the comeback.

By the Numbers:

• Plymouth State went 20-of-63 (31.7%) from the floor and 8-of-28 (28.6%) from three.
• The Beacons outrebounded the Panthers 50-31 overall and 13-9 on the offensive glass.
• Plymouth State recorded a season-low nine turnovers.
• Bench points went in the Panthers' favor, 36-32.
• PSU led in points off turnovers, 32-12, but UMass Boston outscored the Panthers in the paint, 36-20.
• Johnson scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half.

 
Up Next:

• Plymouth State hosts Southern Maine on Wednesday (Feb. 8) at 7:30 p.m.

 
 
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