DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Despite another lights-out shooting night from sophomore
Nic Boyd, where he scored a game-high 26 points on 60.0% from three, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team was outpaced, 78-99, to #11 Keene State on Wednesday. The Corsairs now hold a 14-10 overall record with an 11-4 mark in conference play, while the Owls improve to 21-3 overall and 14-1 in the LEC.
Keene State, paced throughout by Octavio Brito, saw the junior guard tally 26 points and 11 rebounds, along with two blocked shots. Brito shot 11 for 20 (55.0%) from the field and 2 for 4 from deep. Fifth year Jeff Hunter posted his own double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds while going 8 for 13 (61.5%) from the floor and 6 for 6 (100.0%) from the free throw line. The Owls saw a third player score at least 20 points in senior Alonzo Linton, who recorded 21 points, shooting 7 for 12 (58.3%).
The Corsairs were paced by Boyd, who posted 26 points coming off the bench. Boyd converted 10 of his 18 tries from the field and 6 of his 10 three-point attempts. Sophomore
Ryan Flauto nearly posted his third consecutive doub;e-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds on 6 for 8 from the floor. Senior
Isaac Percy added 12 points and 6 boards of his own.
In the first half, UMass Dartmouth fell behind early, with the Owls pulling ahead to a 20-point lead at the 8:50 mark of the first half. Keene State saw 13 early points from Hunter and 11 quick points from Brito during that stretch. UMass Dartmouth responded with a 15-4 run that brought them back within nine with 3:39 to go in the half. The two squads traded buckets down the stretch, with Keene State going into the locker room with a 48-39 lead.
The Corsairs scored the first bucket of the second half, cutting their deficit to just 7 points to start the second half, but it was all Keene State from there. The Owls went on an 18-4 run to stretch their lead to 22 points at the 13:30 mark. The run featured another 7 points from Brito. UMass Dartmouth was unable to close the distance the rest of the way, ultimately falling to Keene State, 78-99.
The Corsairs have another tough battle coming up, traveling to Western Connecticut to face off with the Wolves in the final regular season game of the 2023-24 season. The Little East Conference bout is scheduled for 3:00pm in Danbury, Conn.
