DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Backed by a career-high 23 points from sophomore guard
Danny Reyes, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team defeated Vermont State University Castleton, 78-55 in Little East Conference action on Saturday. The Corsairs improve to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while the Spartans are now 2-6 overall and 0-2 in the LEC.
It was a tight battle to open the game as the two teams found themselves locked in a 10-10 tie at 14:41 on a driving layup from Spartans senior forward Will Radcliff. The Corsairs answered as layup from sophomore guard
Danny Reyes pushed the home team ahead, while a pair of three-pointers from senior guard
Nic Boyd pushed the Corsairs out to a 20-12 advantage.
Another trey – this time out of the hands of Reyes – coupled with an inside layup from senior center
Ryan Flauto saw UMD take a 25-12 advantage with 9:53 remaining. VTSU Castleton responded on the other end, but the home team continued to match bucket-for-bucket to maintain their lead.
UMass Dartmouth went on an 11-0 run late in the frame, building up a 40-27 advantage with just 53 seconds remaining in the opening half. Radcliff responded for the visitors, but Reyes sealed the first half with a last-second layup to send the home team into halftime with the 42-31 lead.
Second half action opened strong once again with senior center
Cam Dunbury dropping in a hook shot down low. A three-pointer from Reyes expanded the lead to 47-33 at 18:15 and the Corsairs continued to press, opening the margin to 20 (56-36) on a driving layup from rookie guard
Mahdee McNair with 14:16 to go.
The Corsairs kept pace, maintaining their advantage backed by a hook shot low from Flauto and five points from Reyes to move the score to 65-40 with 9:23 left to play. VTSU Castleton began to chip back into the game as a layup from sophomore forward Joe Buxton cut the deficit to 65-45 at 7:48, but UMass Dartmouth later responded a nice feed from Reyes inside to Dunbury pushed the margin to 68-47 with just over six minutes to play.
UMass Dartmouth continued to hold steady down the stretch as Dunbury dropped in another shot down low and rookie
Barry Golden nailed a floater in the paint for a 78-53 margin in the final minute of play to seal the victory.
Reyes went 8-of-15 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three-point range to lead the way for the Corsairs, adding seven rebounds, a game-high seven assists, a block and three steals. Dunbury finished with 19 points, completing the double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with an assist and game-high three blocks. Boyd completed the double figures on the day, recording 11 points with three boards, three assists and a steal.
The Corsairs – who shot 49.2% from the floor and 7-of-18 from three point range for the game – are now idle for the holiday break. UMD returns to action at the Trinity Holiday Tournament, facing Albertus Magnus College at 7pm on Tuesday, December 30.
