KEENE, N.H. – Despite a season-high 24 points from senior center
Ryan Flauto, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team shouldered a tough loss at Keene State College, 88-83, in Little East Conference (LEC) action on Wednesday night. The Corsairs dropped to a 3-5 conference record and 9-8 overall while the Owls improved to a 5-3 Little East mark.
Flauto got the Corsairs on the scoreboard with a good layup off the assist from sophomore guard
Danny Reyes to tie the game up at 2-2. After Reyes finished a pair free throws, first year guard
Mahdee McNair posted his first basket in the paint to take a 6-4 lead over the Owls. Keene State clipped in back-to-back three-pointers to regain 12-8 edge with 13:09 on the clock. McNair answered for UMass Dartmouth with a triple off the feed from Reyes before Flauto made both free throws to claim a 13-12 advantage.
Keene State generated a 7-0 run crossing the midway point for the opening half to pull away with a 19-13 lead. Shortly after McNair and Flauto added a basket apiece to make it a one possession game, but the Owls strung 10 straight points together to take a 29-17 advantage with six minutes left in the half. UMass Dartmouth battled back with a 6-0 run featuring four points from McNair to narrow Keene State's lead down to 29-23. The Owls took control late in the half outscoring the Corsairs 12-4 to snag a 41-27 cushion at the break.
Trailing 45-31 early in the second half, sophomore guard
Camden DiChiara posted his first basket of the night to make it 45-33. Flauto then produced the next six points for UMass Dartmouth before DiChiara drained a triple off the feed from senior guard
Nic Boyd to cut the Owls lead to nine points. At the 15:01 mark, Boyd finished his first jump shot of the game that was followed by a Flauto layup, good for his 20
th point of the contest. The Corsairs made it a three-point game thanks to a pair of triples from Boyd along with a basket from first year guard
Strada Joseph entering the last ten minutes of the game.
After the Owls went ahead 63-58, the Corsairs scored 13 consecutive points, highlighted by two three-pointers from Boyd and one triple by Reyes, to claim a 71-63 lead with 6:43 remaining on the clock. Leo Chaikin completed back-to-back and-one plays for Keene State to quickly cut UMass Dartmouth's advantage down to 71-69.
Both teams exchanged free throws until the Owls connected 10 points including six points from the charity stripe to go ahead 82-76 with two minutes remaining in the contest. The Corsairs fought back as DiChiara posted a late three-point shot that was soon followed by a driving layup from Reyes to make it 82-81. Despite that, the Owls held on to cement their fifth conference win of the season by a final score of 88-83 from the Spaulding Gymnasium.
Flauto dropped a career-high 24 points against the Owls after making 11-of-18 field goals along with two free throws (2-3 FT). He also hauled in 13 total rebounds to earn his sixth double-double of the season to go along with two blocks. Boyd tallied 18 points (7-18 FG, 4-11 3FG) for UMass Dartmouth with two assists and a steal. McNair also posted double figures with 17 points (7-15 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-2 FT) and recorded five boards, one assist, one block, and a steal. Reyes led the squad with five assists in the game to go along with 12 points (3-8 FG, 1-2 3FG, 5-5 F), five rebounds, and one steal.
UMass Dartmouth travels to VTSU Castleton for their next conference tilt on Saturday, January 24, slated for a 2:00 p.m. start time.
