HARTFORD, Conn. – The UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team fell against Albertus Magnus College, 100-82, on Tuesday night during the opening day of the Trinity Holiday Tournament hosted by No. 1 nationally ranked Trinity College (Conn.). The Corsairs dropped to a 5-4 overall record with the loss to the Falcons who improved to an 8-3 mark on the season.
Sophomore guard
Camden DiChiara drained a pair of triples to open the scoring for the Corsairs to hold an early 6-4 edge over the Falcons. Shortly after, first year guard
Mahdee McNair drilled his from basket from behind the arc off the feed from senior guard Mic Boyd to make it a 9-6 advantage. Boyd capitalized from the free throw line with 15:08 on the clock making 5-of-5 shots from the line to go ahead 14-6. After senior center
Cam Dunbury laid in a good basket inside the paint, Albertus Magnus strung together a 9-2 run to make it a one-point game.
Senior guard
Darius Peterson and sophomore guard
Danny Reyes each posted their first buckets of the contest to keep the score tied up at 25-all crossing the midway point of the first half. DiChiara finished a pair of free throws to take a 29-28 edge in the game, but the Flacons generated a 7-2 run to regain a 35-31 lead with 5:47 left on the clock. Peterson narrowed Albertus Magnus lead down to one point with a three-point shot before Dunbury went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to once again even the score at 37-apiece. The Falcons closed out the opening half with six unanswered points to take a 48-41 lead at halftime.
First year guard
Mahdee McNair kicked off the Corsairs offense in the second half by scoring the opening five points. Shortly after, senior center
Ryan Flauto dropped six consecutive points inside the paint followed by a Peterson triple to make it 65-55. Trailing by 16 points, DiChiara answered for UMass Dartmouth by clipping in two three-point shots with under ten minutes remaining in the game. Albertus Magnus responded with a 14-0 run featuring three triples from Jayquan Kirkland to give the Falcons a 92-63 cushion.
Boyd and Peterson each drained a three-pointer for the Corsairs approaching the final four minutes of play. First year guard Jonathan Therasias finished the game strong by scoring seven of the last ten points for UMass Dartmouth, marking his first career points, but the Falcons went on to secure the win by a final score of 100-82.
Dunbury led the team with 16 points (5-13 FG, 6-8 FT) to go along with nine rebounds and a blocked shot. DiChiara returned to the court by scoring 14 points (4-12 FG, 2-2 FT) featuring a team-high four three-pointers (4-7) as well as six boards, one assist, and a steal. Peterson also finished the night in double figures with 11 points (4-11 FG, 3-6 3FG) and hauled in three rebounds. Flauto grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds along with eight points (4-11 FG) and a steal while Reyes lead the squad with a season-high eight assists.
UMass Dartmouth will play Suffolk University in the Consolation Game of the Trinity Holiday Tournament tomorrow on Wednesday, December 31
st scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. tipoff from the Ray Oosting Gymnasium.
