BABSON PARK, Mass. – Powered by a career-high 30 points from junior guard
Josh Lopes and the 1,000th-career point from grad student guard
Isaac Percy, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team rallied to defeat Babson College, 87-82 in non-conference action on Saturday. With the victory, the Corsairs move to 2-3 overall while the Beavers slip to 1-3 on the young season.
UMass Dartmouth, who trailed 48-36 at halftime, faced a 16-point deficit (54-38) to open the second half. A layup inside by junior center
Ryan Flauto sparked a 9-0 run, cutting the margin to 54-47 with 15:44 as Percy posted four straight points in the rally. Another 7-0 run, including another layup from Lopes and a three-pointer from Percy tied the game at 56-all with 12:51 to play.
Solid shooting from Babson senior guard Nate Amado – who knocked down seven straight points – gave the hosts a 63-58 lead minutes later, but the Corsairs remained within striking distance, trailing by one (69-68) on a Flauto layup with 7:15 left on the clock.
Three straight points from Amado put the Beavers back up by two (73-71), but a Flauto jumper, coupled with a Lopes layup helped give the Corsairs a two-point lead. Percy then added a three-pointer – pushing his career points total to 1,001 – as UMass Dartmouth took a five-point advantage into the final 5:16.
It was a lead the visitors never relinquished as Lopes laid down a three-pointer, heading to the line soon after as he nailed two straight from the charity stripe (83-76). The Corsairs continued to take advantage at the line as junior guard
John Marcille sank a pair of free throws of his own for an 85-79 lead with 37 seconds.
Babson cut the margin to three on a trey from rookie guard Timmy Mulvey, but Lopes headed back to the line in the final seven seconds, draining a pair of shots from the line for the final margin and the victory.
Lopes added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in addition to his 30 points, going 10-for-21 from the floor, 4-for-7 from the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Percy added 20 points, going 7-for-14 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range with an assist and a block, while Flauto added 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, adding a game-high nine rebounds with two blocks.
As a team, the Corsairs shot 30-of-63 (47.6%) from the floor, 9-for-20 (45.0%) from beyond the arc and a near perfect 18-of-19 (94.7%) from the free throw line in the game.
The Corsairs are now off through the Thanksgiving break, but return to action on Wednesday, December 4 when they open Little East Conference action on the road at Plymouth State. Tip off time against the Panthers is set for 7pm.
