Corsairs Stun Southern Maine in First Round of LEC Tournament

Dartmouth, Mass. – Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer lifts the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Ba over Southern Maine with a 28-point masterpiece in the first round of the Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament. After falling to the Huskies in both of their matchups in the 2022-23 regular-season, the Corsairs came out on top when it mattered, and escape Gorham, Maine with a 77-75 victory. 
 
UMass Dartmouth's fifth-year senior Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer had the hot-hand, shooting an astounding 9-for-15 (60.0%) from the field and 5-of-8 (62.5%) from three. He was all over the floor for the Corsairs, also grabbing four rebounds, stole the ball twice, and blocked a shot. Complimenting Sanders-Dyer was junior Isaac Percy with 15 points and nine rebounds, and John Martins Jr. (senior) with 14 points and five rebounds. Martins Jr. also caught fire from deep, hitting 4-of-6 of his three-point attempts. Fellow senior Jackson Zancan stepped up on the boards, grabbing a game-high 13 while scoring eight points and nailing two of his three deep-balls.

As a unit, UMass Dartmouth shot 46.4% from the floor and a scorching 51.9% from behind the arc. They also won the rebound battle over the Huskies, 41-to-30. With this win, the LEC sixth-seeded Corsairs have set themselves up for a bout with Western Connecticut on Thursday, with a chance to reach the Little East Conference Championship game. 
 
UMD set the tone early, with back-to-back threes from Zancan and Martins Jr. Sanders-Dyer's night began with an early layup and three-ball to cap an 11-4 run for the Corsairs to open things up. Southern Maine bounced back with a few deep shots of their own, and took their first and only lead of the contest at the 13:37 mark on a three from freshman Mark Asare. Sanders-Dyer put UMassD back on top with two more three-balls. 
 
The Huskies kept things tight with five minutes remaining in the first half. After cutting UMD's lead to 26-23, they allowed the Corsairs to go on a 16-to-4 run to close out the half, headed by the shooting of Sanders-Dyer, Zancan and Percy. Sanders-Dyer went 4-for-5 from three in the first half alone, UMass Dartmouth as a unit went 9-for-15 from range in the half. The hot shooting propelled them to a 42-27 lead at the break. 
 
Entering the second half with a significant lead, the Corsairs looked to continue where they left off. Martins Jr. sank two early threes to extend the lead up to as much as 23 points, the largest of the game, with 16:27 to go. The Huskies refused to fold over on their home court, and began an impressive comeback led by their senior Cody Hawes, who tallied 27 on the night. A Hawes three-pointer with 6:36 on the clock cut the deficit to single digits for USM, for the first time in the second half. They were able to bring it all the way back to being down by just one point with 1:53 remaining. 
 
After Head Coach Brian Baptiste took a timeout, Martins Jr. hit a massive three-pointer to put the Corsairs back up by four with 1:35 on the clock. Southern Maine got a break when Sanders-Dyer missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, and a Hawes layup cut the lead down to two points with 14 seconds left. It was the junior from Pittsfield, Mass., Isaac Percy, who was put on the free-throw line with a chance to ice the game for the Corsairs. He did just that, sinking both free-throws, and UMass Dartmouth secured the win as road dogs in Southern Maine, 77-75. 
 
The Corsairs run in the LEC Tournament continues in Western Connecticut on Thursday, for a 6:00 PM tip-off with a ticket to the Little East Conference Championship game on the line.