DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- Senior
Jake Ashworth (Fairhaven, Mass.) scored 16 points, including four key free throws in the final eight seconds of play, to lead UMass Dartmouth to a 67-64 Little East Conference men's basketball victory over Plymouth State Wednesday evening at the Tripp Athletic Center.
The host Corsairs (2-0, 2-0 LEC) overcame an eight-point first half deficit (17-9) to grab a five-point cushion (37-32) on sophomore
Jackson Zancan's (Cumberland, R.I.) lay-in with 3:30 remaining in the opening half, but the visiting Panthers (0-1, 0-1 LEC) used a closing 8-2 run to take a 40-39 lead at the break on junior
Manny Alisandro's (Manchester, N.H.). Neither team led by more than a bucket in the opening 10-plus minutes after intermission, but junior
Adam Seablom (Lakeville, Mass.) capped an 11-0 UMass Dartmouth run that pulled the hosts from a one-point deficit to a 10-point edge (60-50) with 7:46 to play in the contest.
Plymouth State responded by scoring 10 of the game's next 11 points to knot the score for the sixth and final time at 61-61 on junior
Manny Sanchez's (Lawrence, Mass.) lay-in with 2:02 remaining, but a Zancan lay-in one minute later that was followed by two Ashworth free throws provided the Corsairs with a four-point lead in the closing seconds. Sophomore
Giorgi Tsiklauri (Brooklyn, N.Y.) connected for a three-pointer with two ticks remaining on the clock, but Ashworth sank two free throws on the ensuing possession that iced UMass Dartmouth's triumph.
Junior
Marcus Azor (Brockton, Mass.) added 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals in the win for the Corsairs, who received 12 points and five rebounds each from Zancan and junior
Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer (Worcester, Mass.). Seablom and freshman
Isaac Percy (Pittsfield, Mass.) each hauled down six caroms for the winners, who shot 41 percent (26-64) from the field overall and scored 19 points off turnovers to notch its second straight win.
Sophomore
Tom Johnson (Warner, N.H.) scored 15 points (including a trio of three-pointers) in the setback for the Panthers, which received 14 points and six rebounds from Tsiklauri as well as 14 points from junior
Dante Rivera (Methuen, Mass.). Sanchez and freshman
Kyler Bosse (Manchester, N.H.) combined for 15 points for Plymouth State, which shot 42 percent (23-55) from the floor and connected for nine treys on the night but was outscored by a 36-22 margin in the paint.
UMass Dartmouth hosts Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference clash on Saturday afternoon at the Tripp Athletic Center that tips-off at 3:30 pm, while Plymouth State heads to Keene, N.H. for a Little East intrastate matchup with Keene State on Saturday afternoon that tips-off at 1:00 pm.
