CASTLETON, Vt. – Powered by a balanced scoring attack where five players scored in double-figures, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team defeated VTSU Castleton, 80-67, in Little East action on Saturday. The win saw the Corsairs move to 12-9 overall and 9-3 in the LEC. The Spartans are now 6-15 with a 2-10 mark in conference play.
The Corsairs saw a balanced scoring effort, headed by senior
Isaac Percy and sophomore
John Marcille, who each scored a team-leading 16 points. Marcille shot a smoldering 5 for 7 (71.4%) from three-point range. Sophomore
Ryan Flauto had a career game, tallying 15 points and 13 rebounds, both career-best marks. Sophomores
Nic Boyd and
Josh Lopes scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, the Corsairs shot the ball well from deep, going 12 for 27 (44.4%). They also dominated the offensive glass, outscoring the Spartans 18-2 on 2nd chance opportunities.
VTSU Castleton, paced throughout by Joe Russell, saw the graduate student guard score a game-high 30 points. Russell shot was red hot, going 13 for 16 (86.7%) from the field and 2 for 3 (66.7%) from deep. Only one other Spartan scored in double-figures in grad student Scott Lampron. Lampron scored 13 points with a pair of three-pointers himself. VTSU Castleton was perfect from the free throw line as a team at 9 for 9.
UMass Dartmouth went into the half with a 37-30 lead, backed by a 12-point first half from senior
Isaac Percy and eight early points from fifth year senior
Jackson Zancan. VTSU Castleton struck first in the second half, going on a 9-to-5 run that brought them within three points at the 16:29 mark of the second half. Seven of those points come from Russell.
UMass Dartmouth responded immediately, going on a 13-2 run that gave them a 55-41 lead with 14:02 on the clock. The run featured eight consecutive points from Flauto and a pair of three-pointers from Marcille and Boyd. The Corsairs continued to pour it on, stretching their lead to nearly 20-points at 66-48 on another Marcille three-pointer at the 10:15 mark. The Corsairs were able to ride out the remainder of the game time with a comfortable lead. The final horn sounded with UMass Dartmouth on top, 80-67.
The Corsairs return to action on Wednesday, traveling to UMass Boston for a 7:00pm Little East Conference matchup against the Beacons.
