MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team dropped their final game of the 2024 Cruzin Classic against Montclair State University, 101-95, on Saturday afternoon from the Fernandez Family Center. The Corsairs fell to a 3-6 overall record while the Red Hawks picked up their seventh win of the season to go 7-4 on the season.
Graduate student
Isaac Percy drained a three-pointer to open the scoring for UMass Dartmouth off the feed from graduate student
Jayquan Leonard. A good layup by junior
Ryan Flauto soon followed by a triple from classmate
Josh Lopes gave the Corsairs an 8-7 edge over the Red Hawks. Montclair State quickly answered by going on a 9-0 run that was finished off by a three-pointer from Mike Jackson at the 14:20 mark to put the Red Hawks ahead 16-8.
Graduate student
Michael Eurquhart Jr. dropped four of the next six points for UMass Dartmouth to close Montclair State's lead down to just two points. Another four points from first year
Camden DiChiara narrowed the Red Hawks advantage to 19-18 approaching the midway point of the first half. Percy laid in a basket with 9:38 on the clock to give the Corsairs their first lead of the game in over eight minutes, respectively. After Jacob Morales knocked down a triple to make it 30-24 Red Hawks, Flauto posted four straight points followed by a Lopes jumper to knot the game up at 30-apeice with 5:18 left in the half.
In the final five minutes of the opening half, junior
John Marcille dropped his first five points of the contest featuring a triple to keep the Corsairs neck-and-neck with the Red Hawks. Flauto scored the next six points for UMass Dartmouth highlighted by a dunk off the assist from first year
Danny Reyes before Leonard sank a three-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock to tie the score at 46-46 entering halftime.
Lopes started the second half strong, scoring the first four points to give the Corsairs a 50-46 edge in the opening two minutes of action. The Red Hawks responded by stringing nine straight points together featuring a dunk by Myles Primas put Montclair State ahead 55-50. After a UMass Dartmouth timeout with 14:43 on the clock, DiChiara answered for the Corsairs draining a triple to make it a 59-55 game.
At the 11:39 mark, Marcille knocked down a three-pointer to kick off a 9-1 run finished off by a DiChiara fastbreak layup to even the score up at 68-apeice. The Red Hawks pulled away again with a five point lead, but the Corsairs continued to battle as DiChiara came up big with his third triple of the second half to tie the game 77-77 with 7:13 on the clock. UMass Dartmouth used their momentum to take an 82-79 edge thanks to a Flauto one-hand slam and another three-pointer from DiChiara.
Montclair State went on an 8-0 run to regain a five-point advantage in the final minutes of the game. A three-pointer by Morales at the 2:32 mark gave the Red Hawks their first double digits lead of the evening. Down by 12 points, UMass Dartmouth kept fighting by going on a 9-0 run that was completed with a dunk by Flauto to make it a one possession game with 20 seconds remaining. The Red Hawks were able to hold off the late rally by the Corsairs sealing the win by a final score of 101-95.
DiChiara posted a career-high 27 points for UMass Dartmouth after making 10-of-18 field goals including a team-high four three-pointers and 3-3 from the charity stripe. He also recorded three assists, two steals and a rebound. Flauto also produced a career-high 25 points going 10-for-18 from the floor with a team-high eight rebounds, one assist, and a block. Lopes also scored double figures for the Corsairs with 16 points going 6-of-13 from the field to go along with five assists, four steals, and a pair of rebounds.
UMass Dartmouth return to Little East Conference action after the winter break hosting Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday, Jan. 4
th at 3:00 p.m. from the Tripp Athletic Center.
