DARTMOUTH, Mass. – First year
Camden DiChiara powered the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team over Plymouth State University, 75-72, in a Little East Conference (LEC) nail-biter on Saturday afternoon from the Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs improved to a 3-7 mark in league play while the Panthers fell to a 3-8 conference record.
Graduate student
Isaac Percy opened the game with a three-pointer off the assist from classmate
Jayquan Leonard in the first minute of action. The Panther quickly answered, generating an 11-0 run to take a 11-3 lead over the home team. Percy and DiChiara each knocked down a triple apiece to cut Plymouth States advantage down to 17-11 with 12:05 on the clock. Junior
Nic Boyd brought the Corsairs within one point with his triple off the feed from first year
Danny Reyes before junior
Cam Dunbury put UMass Dartmouth up 18-17 with his bucket.
Another triple by DiChiara along with two good free throws from junior
Ryan Flauto gave the Corsairs a four-point advantage with under seven minutes to go in the opening half. The Panthers drained three long range shots in a row to regain a 28-25 edge featuring two three-pointers by Ivan Yen. With four minutes left in the first half, respectively, DiChiara knocked down another triple to tie the score up at 28-apeice. After Plymouth State pulled away with a five-point run, sophomore
Trent Santos drained his first basket from distance to kickstart a 7-0 run to put the home team ahead 35-33 at halftime.
Both teams exchanged buckets early in the second half highlighted by three-pointers from DiChiara and Boyd to keep UMass Dartmouth in the lead at 43-39. At 12:53, Percy hit his second triple of the contest to extend the Corsairs advantage to six-points. The Panthers kept fighting midway through the half as Torran Bosworth tied the game up at 57-apeice after making 1-of-3 buckets from the line. Plymouth State capitalized on their momentum, going on a 7-3 run to take a 64-60 lead with 5:58 on the clock.
With just under two minutes remaining in the game, Reyes clipped in a three-pointer to make it a one-point game. Santos finished a driving layup in the paint to put the home team ahead 73-72. DiChiara sealed their victory with a late bucket on the fastbreak to defeat the Panthers by a final score of 75-72.
DiChara posted a team-high 26 points going 9-of-15 from the field featuring six made three-pointers (6-11) and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe. The rookie guard also recorded four rebounds, two steals, and a block in the win. Percy also scored in double-digits with 17 points (5-13 FG, 3-7 3-FG, 4-4 F) to go along with five rebounds and a steal. Junior
John Marcille led the team with eight total boards as well as five points, two assists, two steals, and a block. Boyd ended the afternoon with a team-high five assists along with six points and a pair of steals.
UMass Dartmouth is on the road for their next league game against Rhode Island College on Wednesday, Feb. 5 starting at 7:30 p.m.
