PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Led by Carl Joseph's (Brockton, Mass.) 25 points men's basketball notched their first Little East Conference win of the season as they defeated Plymouth State University by the final of 78-65 Tuesday evening in the first meeting between the two squads.

With the victory, the Beacons bounced back in a big way following their tough loss to Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday.  The Beacons improved to 9-4 overall, 1-3 in the Little East.  For the Panthers, they dropped their second straight conference contest, and now stand at 5-9, 0-4 on the LEC.

On the night, Joseph 10-for-17 from the field, and 5-for-6 at the line to help the Beacons end their 19-game conference losing streak.  Junior Karl Agenor (Dorchester, Mass.) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and finished second on the team with 15 points.

After an early back-and-forth exchange between the two conference rivals, the Beacons began to build some distance on the board. They would combine for 13 points over the final minutes of the opening half to go into the break with a 35-30 lead.

In the second half, UMass tried to extend their lead over the Panthers, but Plymouth State managed to claw back every time to keep the game close.   The Beacons earned their biggest lead of the night when Steven McGuire (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) drained a lay-up to make it 64-54 with just over five minutes to play.

As time continued to wind down, the Panthers began to foul the Beacons forcing UMass to do all their scoring at the charity stripe.  Despite struggling for most of the year, when it comes to free throw shooting the Beacons looked like season pro's as they went an impressive 12-for-14 over the final two minutes to stay ahead of the Panthers. 

On the night the Beacons shot a season-high 74.1% from the free throw line, while from the field they finished shooting 47.4% overall.  From behind the arc they were 5-for-7.  Plymouth State held a +4 advantage on the glass (37-34), but the Beacons defense came through yet again forcing 23 Plymouth turnovers.  They also managed four blocks in the win as well.

The Beacons return to action on Thursday when they host Bridgewater State University at 7:30 p.m.