Men's Basketball Tops UMass Boston in Overtime, 91-86

THE BASICS 
Salem State, 91 vs. UMass Boston, 86

Records: 
UMass Boston (1-2)
Salem State University Vikings (2-0)

Location: Salem, Mass. - Twohig Gymnasium

Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025

THE LEAD—  The Salem State men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 91-86 overtime victory Thursday against UMass Boston.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Early in the first half, Salem's offense was cruising as the squad raced out to a 13-4 lead before a UMass Boston timeout. Omri Merryman (Lynn, Mass.) led the early surge with five points. Coming out of the break, the Beacons utilized an 11-4 run capped off by a Cameron Perkins layup to pull within two (17-15). However, Salem once again grabbed a seven-point advantage (25-18) thanks to a 8-3 run after a Damani Williams (Boston, Mass.) three. Later in the frame though, UMass Boston evened things at 27 with a 9-2 rally highlighted by a Cameron Perkins three.
• From that point on, both sides did not let the other gain momentum, and the Beacons ended up taking a 39-36 lead at halftime. Throughout the second half, it was a lot of back-and-forth basketball. With the score tied at 50, the Vikings earned their first double-digit lead of the contest (60-50) when the squad went on a 10-0 run capped off by a Williams three-pointer. Despite the large deficit, UMass Boston lingered around and evened things at 64 with 6:46 left to play. For the remainder of the contest, both squads would not let up on the other and after a Jamel Walker (Worcester, Mass.) three made it 76-73 with 35 seconds left, UMass Boston knocked down a three at the buzzer to force overtime.
• During the extra frame, Salem outscored UMass Boston, 15-10, to ultimately secure the 91-86 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Raheim Orleans (Attleboro, Mass.) led the way with a career-high 21 points and had 11 boards for his first career double-double.
• Nicholas Martinez (Revere, Mass.) guided the offense with six dimes.
• For the Beacons, Cameron Perkins finished with a game-high 47 points. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

UP NEXT

• Salem hits the road for a 2:00 p.m. matchup at Suffolk University on Saturday, November 15 at 2:00 p.m.