DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Junior
Isaac Percy scored a career-high 27 points to power the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to an 85-76 victory over Plymouth State University this afternoon in a Little East Conference men's basketball contest inside the Tripp Athletic Center.
The Corsairs raised their overall record to 7-16 and 6-8 against Little East Conference competition, while the Panthers fell to 9-15 overall and 2-13 inside the conference circuit.
Percy was 10-of-16 from the field, including four 3-pointers, to lead three UMass Dartmouth players in double figures. He also pulled in seven boards and registered three steals. Junior
Jayquan Leonard posted a season-high 17 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, and handed out a team-high seven helpers, while fifth-year senior
Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer added 13 points. Junior Michael Eurquhart, Jr. turned in a balanced effort with eight points and a team-high eight boards.
Junior Christian Barr poured in a season-high 18 points off the bench to pace four Plymouth State players in double-digits. Rookie Maxwell Galbraith and graduate student Tom Johnson each registered 14 points, while junior Alex Dean notched 11 points. Barr pulled in a team-best nine rebounds and classmate Rylan Canabano dished out eight assists.
UMass Dartmouth closed the opening half with an 18-8 run to break open a tightly-contested affair and take a 43-32 advantage into the locker room. Percy ignited the decisive run with a jumper and a triple, while Eurquhart contributed six points, including a dunk, to give the Corsairs their first double-digit lead of the half (36-26) with four minutes left on the clock. Sophomore
Bryson Andrews sandwiched a free throw and a layup between an Eurquhart field goal and Sanders-Dyer converted a fast break layup to give the Corsairs their largest lead of the half, but Plymouth State knocked down a jumper just before the intermission.
Leonard scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half to help the Corsairs maintain control of the conference contest. UMass Dartmouth stretched its lead to 15 points following a traditional three-point play from Percy with 17:42 left on the scoreboard. The hosts continued to build their advantage over the next 10 minutes, culminating in a game-high 19-point lead following two makes at the charity stripe from Leonard.
Plymouth State ripped off an 11-0 run to whittle its deficit to eight points (76-68) with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. Following a 30-second timeout, Sanders-Dyer hit a lay-up to regain the Corsairs double-digit lead, and the visitors would never get any closer than nine points down the stretch.
UMass Dartmouth will return to action at 7:30pm on Wednesday, Feb. 15, when the Corsairs travel to Rhode Island College.
