'KEENE, N.H. 2/25/06- Amigo Paniagua (Santiago, D.R.) had
19 points to lead the second -seeded UMass-Boston men's basketball
team to its first-ever Little East Conference Championship with a
81-67 over top seed Keene State College at Spaulding Gym on
Saturday.
UMass-Boston (18-10) received the conference's automatic NCAA
berth. They will found out who they will play during the NCAA
Conference call on Sunday night. It will be UMB's first NCAA
appearance since 1983. Keene State (20-7), looking to advance
to the tournament for the second time in three years, will now
await a possible at-large NCAA berth or ECAC Tournament bid.
After an early KSC spurt to start the game, UMass-Boston,
pressing the Owls, maintained a lead throughout most of the first
half. The Beacons took their biggest lead 42-31 on a lay-up by
Paniagua. Paniagua hit baskets on the Beacons' final three
possessions to help stake UMB to a 44-35 halftime lead. UMB
shot 51% from the field compared to the Owls 40%. KSC also
committed 11 turnovers. Paniagua had 11 points and Tony
Barros (Dorchester, Mass.) had 10 first half points for UMB.
Sean Sullivan (Athol, Mass.) and Carl Slate (North Attleboro,
Mass.) had nine points each for the Owls.
The Beacons remained hot to open the second half. A.J.
Titus (Roxbury, Mass.), the tournament MVP, hit a couple of
technical free throws to put the Beacons up by 16 (53-37) at the
17:11 mark. Paniagua later added a pair of free throws to
push the lead to 17 (57-40) with 14:34 to go.
The Owls cut the Beacons lead to 11 (62-51) on a three-pointer
by Hickey with 9:25 to play, and got it down to nine (73-64) on a
lay-up by Nick Drouin (Weare, N.H.) in the closing minute, but
would get no closer.
Titus finished with 16 points and Barros added 13 points for
UMB.
The Owls placed four players in double-figures; Drouin led the
way with 13 points, Sullivan and Matt Hickey (Mahopac, N.Y.) added
12 points each, and Tyler Kathan (Ludlow, Vt.) finished with 11
points. Ben Maynard (Nobleboro, Me.) had a team-high 11 rebounds.
