DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball team were narrowly defeated by Husson University, 73-70, on Saturday night in the season home opener at Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs dropped to 0-2 overall after falling to the Eagles in the second game of the 26
th Annual Lafrance Hospitality Tournament.
UMass Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 12-6 lead to start the game thanks to six points apiece from junior guard
Josh Lopes and graduate student guard
Isaac Percy. First year
Camden DiChiara then knocked down his first collegiate triple as a Corsair off the assist from graduate student
Jayquan Leonard. After the Eagles closed the score gap to 16-14, junior
John Marcille laid in his first basket of the night off the feed from graduate student
Michael Eurquhart Jr.
Crossing the midway point of the first half, Husson regained their second lead of the night after going on a 6-0 run to secure a 23-20 edge. Sophomore
Trent Santos kicked off an 8-1 run for the Corsairs after making two free throws featuring a three-pointer from Percy to claim a four-point cushion. The Eagles continued to battle as Tope Alao finished a driving layup in the paint to make it a 30-27 game at halftime.
Junior
Cam Dunbury opened UMass Dartmouth scoring in the second half by draining a triple. Shortly after, Marcille finished an and-one play to give the home team a five-point lead. Neff splashed a three-point to even the score up at 36-36, but Percy quickly answered with a triple of his own to go ahead 39-36.
After the Eagles took back a 49-46 lead after Ty Henke made a three-pointer on a fastbreak, Dunbury disrupted their momentum with slam off the pass from Lopes. Husson started to pull away earning their largest lead of the night at seven-points as Jeremy Moronta finished a layup for the Eagles.
With under five minutes remaining in the game, the Corsairs fought back from a six-point deficit to cut the Eagles advantage to 63-61 thanks to a triple by Santos with 3:46 on the clock. Santos then finished a tough basket in the paint to level the score at 65-65 approaching the final three minutes of the contest. UMass Dartmouth kept battling to the end, but Husson outlasted the Corsairs late push to win by a final score of 73-70.
Percy led the team with 16 points (6-10 FG, 4-7 3-FG) in the game to go along with one rebound, one assist, and a steal. Marcille (4-7 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 3-3 FT) and Santos (4-7 FG, 2-5 3-FG, 2-2 F) each scored 12 points apiece for the Corsairs while Dunbury ended the night with 11 points (3-7 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 4-6 FT) with team-high five blocks.
On the defensive end, Eurquhart Jr. grabbed a team-high six rebounds as well as two steals. Leonard also recorded a pair of steals and dished out team-high eight assists.
The Corsairs are back in action on Sunday, Nov. 17 taking on Albertus Magnus College for the consolation game. Tipoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. from the Tripp Athletic Center.
