PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Playing with a depleted roster for the third game in
 five days, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball team fought its way to an 80-73 overtime victory Wednesday night at the Murray Center.
Three Corsairs (11-2, 4-1 LEC) finished with a double-double.
 Senior
 Adam Seablom set a new career high of 28 points and added 11 rebounds and four assists, while graduate student
Jake Ashworth finished with 16 points and 10 boards. Senior
Marcus Azor nearly had his third straight triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Juniors
John Martins Jr. and
Jackson Zancan each tallied 11 points.
Three players scored in double figures for the Anchormen (10-4, 3-3 LEC), led by sophomore Jordan Riley's 23 points and 17 rebounds.
Both sides traded buckets in the first six minutes of the game. three free throws and a pair of baskets by Seablom gave the Corsairs an early 7-6 lead with 13:43 on the clock in the first half. Rhode Island College then used a 13-0 run with three 3-pointers to jump ahead to a 19-7 advantage until a steal and slam by Azor made it a 10-point game with 8:01 to go.
UMass Dartmouth used its speed to its advantage and got back into the game with seven fastbreak points and an Azor triple to cut the deficit to 28-24 at halftime.
It took just over two minutes for the Corsairs to reclaim the lead. A three by Martins Jr., a Seablom layup, back-to-back 3-balls from Ashworth and an Azor bucket in the paint quickly gave the Corsairs a 37-30 advantage at the 17:48 mark. UMass Dartmouth maintained that margin until a three by Zancan and a basket by Seablom gave the Corsairs their largest lead of the game of 11, 48-37, with 13:48 in regulation.
With the Corsairs leading 57-47 with 8:20 to go, the Anchormen sparked a 22-12 run to close the second half and force overtime. Junior Shion Darby, the leading scorer in the LEC, had a chance to win the game for RIC in the final seconds, but his shot hit the front of the rim.
Seablom and Martins Jr. scored the first two baskets of the overtime period, but RIC hung around. That was until Ashworth drilled the dagger to make it a 76-73 lead with less than a minute to go. UMass Dartmouth then hit its free throws to close out the game and secure the key conference win.
The Corsairs now gear up for a major non-conference opponent on Saturday at 2 p.m., when they face No. 15 Wesleyan at the Tripp Athletic Center.
