PLYMOUTH, N.H. – After a back-and-forth first half, men's basketball put-on a dominating performance in the second posting a 22-4 run and 58% shooting from the field to outscore the host Panthers of Plymouth State University 44-27, securing their first Little East Conference win of the season by the final of 77-60 Tuesday evening in Foley Gym. 

With Tuesday's big win the Beacons pushed their record back over the .500 mark and now stand at 7-5 overall.  UMB improved to their conference record to 2-2.  For the Panthers, they fell to 2-10 on the year, and 1-3 in the Little East.

Leading the Beacons in their second half surge was sophomore forward Brian Clarke (Miramar, Fla.) who recorded a second-half best 10 points off the bench.  Classmate Carl Joseph (Brockton, Mass.) finished second on the team with nine points as he went 4-for-6 over the final 20 minutes of play.  Clarke was just as impressive as he finished 5-for-5 from the floor.  On the glass, Clarke finished second on the team with six boards, behind junior center Rahshjeem Benson (Boston, Mass.) who closed out the win with seven points.

Perhaps the turning point of the second half came when the Beacons went on a huge 12-0 run, which was started by a lay-up from Clarke which pushed UMB out in-front 39-35.  From there the Beacons fired on all cylinders to complete take over Tuesday's game.

On the night, Clarke led all scorers with his 16 points, followed by Vinny DeLucia (Miami, Fla.) who recorded 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, which included a pair of made 3-pointers.  Benson totaled a game-best 15 boards, and also dropped in 11 points. 

Defensively UMB held the Panthers to just 31% shooting on the night.  As a squad the Beacons tallied five blocks, 10 steals, and forced 16 turnovers.  Plymouth State did win the battle on the glass as they totaled nine more boards than the Beacons (49-40).

Men's Basketball will look to continue their winning ways on Thursday when they host Bridgewater State University at 7 p.m. in the Clark Athletic Gym.