PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team fell at Rhode Island College, 87-63, in the Little East Conference (LEC) opener on Wednesday night. The Corsairs start conference play down 0-1 and move to 4-3 overall while the Anchormen secure their first LEC victory and improved to a 5-3 mark on the season.
First year guard
Mahdee McNair opened the scoring with a triple to give the Corsairs an early 3-0 lead in the game. After a three-pointer from Tyriek Weeks, sophomore guard
Isaiah Makor slammed the ball off the lob from classmate
Danny Reyes to tie the score up at 5-all. A few minutes later, senior center
Cam Dunbury posted a two-hand jam to give UMass Dartmouth a 9-8 edge with 14:16 on the clock. Senior guard
Darius Peterson clipped in his first basket of the night from behind the arc to take a 12-8 lead over the Anchormen.
After Weeks tied the score up with a layup, McNair quickly answered with another triple from the corner to make it 15-12. Crossing the midway point of the fist half, Peterson added a jump shot followed by an and-one play from McNair to preserve a three-point lead in the game. Dunbury finished a three-point play for UMass Dartmouth to claim a 27-20 advantage with 7:20 remaining on the clock. Rhode Island responded with a 9-2 run to that was capped off with a triple by Weeks to knot the score up at 29-apiece. Both teams exchanged late points in the half, but the Anchormen fought their way back to take a 36-33 lead at the break.
Rhode Island grabbed a 40-35 edge thanks to four points by Xavier Mendez early in the second half. First year guard
Strada Joseph drained his first shot from long range to narrow the Anchormen's lead down to one point. Trailing 45-39 after a triple from Mendez, the Corsairs strung six straight points together that was finished off by a tough layup from senior guard
Nic Boyd to even the score at 45-all.
Approaching the last ten minutes of action, Rhode Island generated an 8-0 run to take a 54-47 lead in the contest. Both teams exchanged a few points from the free throw line before Noe Bom drained a three-point shot to give the Anchormen a 64-54 advantage. Makor responded with a good triple, marking his eighth point of the night, but Rhode Island tacked on six of their next 11 points from the charity stripe to pull away with a 77-58 lead. The Anchormen continued to tack on eight points in the final three minutes of action to cement their home win by a final score of 87-63.
Reyes led the squad 11 points (4-11 FG, 3-4 F) to go along with a team-high eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Dunbury also finished the game in double figures with 10 points (4-8 FG, 2-3 FT) in addition to grabbing seven boards and producing one steal. McNair finished the contest with nine points (3-15 FG, 2-5 3FG, 1-1 FT) while also recording six rebounds and a pair of assists. Makor posted eight points, five boards, one assist, one steal, and a block while Joseph and Peterson each added seven points in the game. First year forward
Jesse Basse made his collegiate debut for UMass Dartmouth and recorded his first career rebound against the Anchormen.
UMass Dartmouth returns to Little East action on Saturday, December 6 hosting VTSU Castleton at 2:00 p.m. from the Tripp Athletic Center.
