Corsairs Leave Plymouth With a Conference W

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball team continue their early Little East Conference success with a 78-72 win over Plymouth State on Saturday. 
 
The Corsairs advance to 3-5 overall and begin their Little East schedule with a 2-0 record. Meanwhile the Panthers drop to 6-6 overall and are now 0-4 in the LEC.

Leading the way for UMassD was senior Jackson Zancan, who tallied a game-high 28 points. Zancan also had three assists, five rebounds, a block and a steal in the road win. Other big contributors for the Corsairs were junior Isaac Percy, who had 10 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks; and fifth year Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer with six points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.  
 
The leading scorer for Plymouth State with 21 points was junior Kevin Henry. Sophomore Elijah Swanson put up 17 points and eight rebounds on 6-8 from the field before fouling out of the game with a minute left. 
 
UMass Dartmouth opened up the contest hot, when a Percy three-pointer capped off an eight-point run to give the Corsairs and early 8-0 lead. They would extend their lead in the first half to 25-16 before the Panthers began to work their way back into it. Plymouth State went on a 21-9 run to close out the half leading UMassD 37-34.
 
The two Little East teams went back and forth in the second half. With 13:30 remaining, Zancan began to take over the game, starting with a transition three pointer after a steal and assist from junior Jayquan Leonard, that evened the game up at 47-47. Zancan went on to score three consecutive layups to put the Corsairs back on top, 53-49 with 11:48 remaining. The Panthers brought it back within three points with five minutes left, before a huge three pointer from UMass Dartmouth senior John Martins Jr to put UMD back up by six. A couple more layups from Zancan, along with good free throw shooting from him and Sanders-Dyer that iced the game. 
 
One of the big difference-makers in this contest was the Corsair's ability to take advantage of offensive rebounds, dominating Plymouth State in second-chance points 15-0. UMass Dartmouth also led the way in points off of turnovers, and points in the paint.    
 
The 78-72 victory marks win number 699 for head coach Brian Baptiste, who is now just one win away from joining elite company in the 700-win club. He will have two chances to reach that milestone in 2022, when the Corsairs travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for the Cruzin' Classic on Dec. 20 & 21. They will tip off against Wartburg College at 6pm on Tuesday.