UMass Dartmouth Takes Down No. 15 Wesleyan, 104-94, at the Tripp

DARTMOUTH, Mass. – It was a knock-down-drag-out heavyweight battle between two of the top teams in New England Saturday at the Tripp Athletic Center, and it was the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth who pulled away for the 104-94 victory over No. 15 Wesleyan University.
 
The Corsairs (12-2) advance to 2-1 against ranked opponents and 2-0 against teams in the top 15.
 
Senior Marcus Azor notched his 11th double-double in 14 games with a game-high 23 points and 10 assists with six rebounds. 5th-year senior Jarron Santos caught fire to finish with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while senior Sean Leahy played a pivotal role in his return with 18 points and seven boards. Graduate student Jake Ashworth (17 points) and senior Adam Seablom (15 points) were also in double figures. Back as well was sophomore Mike Eurquhart, who pulled down seven rebounds and limited Wesleyan's post players.
 
UMass Dartmouth forced 14 turnovers and only turned the ball over eight times themselves. The Corsairs were also consistent from the free throw line, making 21-of-23 (91.3%) from the charity stripe.
 
The 15th ranked, and much bigger, Cardinals (15-2) were handed just their second loss of the year. Senior Antone Walker led the team with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 3-of-3 from long distance. Three other members of the team tallied 16 points each.
 
It was a slow start as neither side had much success putting the ball in the basket over the first few minutes of action. Wesleyan scored in the first minute and it took until the 16:21 mark for junior Jackson Zancan to sink three free throws to give the Corsairs their first lead of the game. Leahy then scored five straight points and Azor canned his first jumper of the day to make it 10-6 advantage with 12:48 on the clock.
 
An Ashworth triple made it 15-10 until the Cardinals went on a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to jump ahead, 20-15, with 8:56 left in the half. Azor then found Zancan for a three and what followed was the JC Santos show. Santos poured in 16 points in the final seven minutes of the half and capped it off with a 3-ball to make it a 41-36 halftime lead.
 
After a slow first half, Azor opened the second with a pair of baskets and Santos nailed a jumper to make it 55-43 with 15:59 to go. Wesleyan then used its paint presence to go on a 15-6 run and close its gap to 61-58 at the 12:03 mark.
 
Five-straight points by Eurquhart held off the Cardinals for the next few minutes, but Wesleyan stayed persistent and evened the score at 70 with 8:18 left. Junior John Martins Jr. and Santos then hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Seablom scored in paint to bring it back to an eight-point lead. Azor then took over, scoring 11 points down the stretch, as the Corsairs hung on for the win.
 
UMass Dartmouth returns to the Tripp Athletic Center for a 7 p.m. tip off against Eastern Connecticut State on Wednesday.