Men's Basketball Hosts Keene State In Little East Title Game Thursday Evening

A champion will be crowned on Thursday evening, as top-seeded UMass Dartmouth (7-2) welcomes second-seeded Keene State (6-2) to the Tripp Athletic Center for the 2021 Little East Conference Men's Basketball tournament title game that tips-off at 6:00 pm EST.
 
Head Coach Brian Baptiste's Corsairs are looking to extend their league record with a 12^th conference tournament championship, as UMass Dartmouth advanced to the title contest with a 93-89 semifinal round triumph over fourth-seeded Rhode Island College on Monday evening at the Tripp Athletic Center.  Junior Marcus Azor (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) led the way with a career-high 29 points and nine rebounds for the hosts, who received 17 points and three assists off the bench from fellow junior Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) along with 10 points each from juniors Adam Seablom (Lakeville, Mass./Apponequet) and Matt Valles (Fairhaven, Mass./Old Rochester).
 
Keene State advanced to the championship game by outlasting third-seeded Eastern Connecticut in an 80-79 semifinal win last Friday evening at Spaulding Gymnasium in Keene, N.H., as sophomore Jeff Hunter paced Head Coach Ryan Cain's Owls with a double-double performance of 17 points and 16 rebounds.
 
UMass Dartmouth and Keene State split their two regular season matchups during a home-and-home Valentine's Day weekend set, with each squad claiming victories on the opponent's home court.  The Owls eked out a 68-67 triumph on February 13^th, while the Corsairs returned the favor behind 18 points from Sanders-Dyer just 24 hours later with an 86-75 win in the Granite State.
 
UMass Dartmouth, which is 11-4 in 15 previous Little East championship game appearances, is seeking its first crown since 2009 and is making its second straight trip to the title contest.  The Corsairs own a 43-23 (.652) mark in conference tournament play since its inception in 1987.  Baptiste has previously guided his squad to league crowns in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2009.
 
Keene State is making its second trip to the Little East championship affair in three years and is playing for its fifth tournament crown all-time, as the Owls are 4-8 in 12 prior title contests and have previously won it all in 2004, 2015, 2016 and 2019.
 
Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions prohibit spectators from attending Thursday night's championship contest, but you can follow all of the action at corsairathletics.com and view the broadcast at littleeast.tv.  For more information on this year's Little East Men's Basketball Championships, visit littleeast.com.
 
UMass Dartmouth Roster
 
UMass Dartmouth Statistics
 
Keene State Roster
 
Keene State Statistics
 
Live Stream Link
 
Little East Championship Central