The UMass Minutemen (4-7) defeated the UMass Boston Beacons (5-3) 86-52 on Saturday, December 14th at the Mullins Center.
Malek Abdelgowad had a career high in points, adding 26 with 14 rebounds. Daniel Rivera had his third double-double of the season, scoring 11 points, and bringing down 10 rebounds. Jaylen Curry also added 10 points with 5 assists.
1st Half
It was evident that the Minutemen were going to dominate the glass early in the game. The Minutemen started the game out rebounding the Beacons 11-2, and never looked back. Malek Abdelgoward scored the Minutemen’s first 8 of 11 points, showing the size advantage he had on the D3 UMass Boston bigs. UMass Boston cut the lead to 20-13 at one point, but the Minutemen did not look back. Abdelgowad made back to back threes to push the lead to 32-13, his first two threes of the season. Daniel Rivera recorded a double double in the 1st half alone, with 11 points and 10 rebounds in one half. The Minutemen entered the locker room with a 47-24 lead.
2nd Half
The Minutemen came out flat to start the second half, as the Beacons cut the lead to under 20 points at the 16 minute mark. UMass caught their second wind, forcing the Beacons into 9 2nd half turnovers, that the Minutemen capitalized on. Free throw shooting was a concert in this contest, as has been throughout the entire season for UMass. The Minutemen shot 12-26 from the free throw line, worse than their season free throw percentage going into the game at 63.7%. This is an area that UMass can capitalize on, and bring their lackluster scoring to another level.
Rahsool Diggins had some time at the point guard position today in the second half. Rahsool added 7 assists. Additionally, Marqui Worthy also added 7 assists, as he saw 21 minutes today, majority of the time running the point.
It was refreshing to see the Minutemen score efficiently shooting over 50% from the field, as the offense has not reached this mark in nearly two weeks. Although against an inferior opponent, the momentum of the offense can carry over to the end of non-conference play, and into conference play.
What’s next?
UMass will face off against in-state opponent in Northeastern on Wednesday, December 18th at 7 PM at the Mullins Center.
