DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Despite a career-high 29 points from sophomore guard
Danny Reyes, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team were bested by UMass Boston, 90-72, on Thursday evening from the Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs fell to a 2-2 mark in Little East Conference (LEC) play and 8-6 overall on the season while the Beacons improved to a 4-1 league record.
First year guard
Mahdee McNair opened the scoring with a driving basket to the rim to give the Corsairs an early 2-0 edge in the contest. The Beacons quickly jumped out to a 13-6 lead paced by Cameron Perkins posting eight of the first 13 points for UMass Boston. First year
Jesse Basse finished his first basket of the evening followed by two good free throws from first year
Charles Bembery to make it 15-10 at the 13:08 mark.
UMass Boston continued to build momentum with 12-2 run featuring a pair of three-pointers from Perkins to put the visitors up 27-12. Shortly after senior guard
Darius Peterson laid in his first basket of the game, Reyes took control by scoring the next nine points for UMass Dartmouth approaching the last five minutes of the half. Sophomore guard
Isaiah Makor drilled a shot from beyond the arc while McNair finished a late basket for the Corsairs, but the Beacons held on to a 47-32 cushion at halftime.
Sophomore guard
Camden DiChiara kicked off the second half strong, scoring the opening five points highlighted by his first triple of the evening. After senior center
Ryan Flauto posted a good jump shot, both teams continued to exchange baskets with Reyes and DiChiara adding a bucket apiece with 14:21 remaining. UMass Boston grabbed a 20-point lead following an 8-2 run to go ahead 67-47 in the contest.
The Corsairs responded with a 9-2 run featuring five points from Reyes along with an assist to 69-56. After Flauto denied a shot by Davon Sanders, DiChiara finished the fast break layup to make it a 12-point game with 6:32 left in the game. Despite five more points from Reyes and a late triple by senior guard
Nic Boyd, UMass Boston sealed their conference victory by a final score of 90-72.
Reyes scored a career-high 29 points after going 9-for-15 from the floor featuring three triples (3-3) and going 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. He also recorded six rebounds, three assists, and a steal for UMass Dartmouth. Flauto finished the game with 11 points (4-9 FG, 3-6 FT) including a team-high nine rebounds and two blocked shots. DiChiara posted nine points (4-10 FG, 1-3 3FG) to go along with four defense boards, two assists, and steal. Basse scored a season-high six points (2-3 FG) for the Corsairs while Boyd notched a team-high two steals.
UMass Dartmouth returns to Little East action on Saturday, January 10
th hosting Western Connecticut State University for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff.
