PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A back-and-forth battle played out in Little East Men's Basketball action on Wednesday evening as Rhode Island College came-from-behind for a 70-68 win over UMass Dartmouth. The Anchormen improve to 8-15 overall and 6-9 in LEC play, while the Corsairs are now 7-17 and 6-9 in conference action.
Trailing by a 31-29 margin after the opening half of play, the Corsairs wasted little time in pulling things even as junior guard
Jayquan Leonard dropped in a layup at 19:22 for the 31-31 score. An and-1 play from junior guard
Isaac Percy came soon after, pushing UMD ahead by one (34-33), but the Anchormen once again responded as Ousmane Kourouma sank a layup for the 35-34 lead.
The back-and-forth continued as fifth year guard
Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer's three-pointer jumps the Corsairs back into the lead (37-35), but back-to-back buckets from Xavier Landers and Kalu Uga pulled the game even (40-40) once more with 15:46 remaining.
That momentum continued as the Anchormen completed a 9-0 run to take a 45-40 lead. Percy broke up the run, a floating jumper signifying his 20th point of the contest, and a
Jackson Zancan layup closed the gap to 45-44 at 13:37.
The game's lead continued to seesaw, neither team leading by more than two points until the 8:12 mark as five straight points from Sanders-Dyer opened a five-point advantage for the visitors.
UMD continued to open its margin as another shot from Sanders-Dyer, coupled with a bucket from junior forward
Michael Eurquhart Jr. pulled the margin to 62-53 in favor of the Corsairs with 5:55 remaining.
The Corsairs continued to hold the edge, the Anchormen finally pulling closer as Uga nailed a three-pointer for the 65-60 UMD lead with 3:40 on the clock.
Under two minutes to play, RIC made it a 1-point contest as Anthony Rivera connected on a floater for the 65-64 score and then drained a pair of free throws for the 66-65 lead with 1:30 to play.
The Anchormen got a key steal as Kourouma sank a layup with 45 seconds remaining, but Sanders-Dyer played the hero once more, capitalizing off a free throw miss from RIC with a three-pointer for the 68-all margin.
RIC regained possession off the make and it was Rivera who drilled in another layup, making it a two-point (70-68) lead with just nine seconds to play. Following a UMD timeout, the Corsairs attempted to tie with an inside bucket but Kourouma laid down a key block and the Anchormen held on for the victory.
Rivera led the Anchormen with a game-high 24 points, including 10-of-18 from the floor shooting with 14 rebounds to complete the double-double. He added seven assists and six steals as well, both of which were game-best's, with a block. Uga recorded the double-double of 19 points with 10 rebounds, while Kourouma also had a double-double with 10 points and 15 boards.
The Corsairs were paced by Percy as he notched a game-high 24 points, going 10-of-18 from the floor as well. He added seven boards with an assist, a steal and a game-high two blocks. Sanders-Dyer added 23 points, including a 3-for-4 effort from three-point range, posting four boards with four steals.
UMD returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Castleton University at the Tripp Athletic Center. The game, which is slated for a 3pm tip-off, will see the Corsairs honor their graduating players pre-game.
