DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team shouldered a tough 75-73 loss to SUNY Potsdam on Friday in game two of the 2026 Lafrance Hospitality Tournament at Tripp Gymnasium.
 
The Bears (1-0) will now face Emerson College – who won by a 71-67 margin in the opening tournament game – in the Championship game on Saturday at 2pm, while the Corsairs (0-1) will take on Baruch College in the Consolation game at 12pm.
 
Trailing by a 59-53 margin following a Remmiel Simon three-pointer, the Corsairs battled back as consecutive jumpers from junior captain and guard Danny Reyes closed the gap to 59-57 with 7:25 to play. Junior guard and captain Camden DiChiara nailed a three-pointer less than two minutes later to make it a one-point (61-60) game, but the Bears countered once more.
 
A layup from junior guard Mike Hancock was quickly followed by a shot inside from rookie forward Ian Rose as the visitors regained a 67-62 advantage with 5:19 remaining in the contest.
 
Down by seven (71-64), the Corsairs got another three from DiChiara and saw sophomore forward Kordell Philemon bank a jump shot to make it a 74-69 game with 1:14 to play. UMD continued to answer as senior guard Josh Lopes and Philemon each dropped in buckets to pull the margin to one (74-73) with 35 seconds to go.
 
SUNY Potsdam capitalized on a Corsairs foul late with senior guard Nicholas Cortez making a shot at the free throw line with just nine seconds remaining. The Corsairs had a last shot but DiChiara's jumper missed and time expired before UMD could get another shot off.
 
The Corsairs, who trailed by a 34-33 margin after the opening half of action, were paced by 16 points from Lopes on 7-for-15 shooting from the floor. He also went 2-for-4 from three-point range with three boards and an assist. Philemon added 15 points with six rebounds, a block and a steal, while DiChiara finished with 12 points, five boards and two steals. Leading the rebounding effort was junior Givel Nelson-Nunez, who had 14 on the night.
 
SUNY Potsdam saw five players reach double figures on the night, paced by a game-high 19 from Cortez, who also had six rebounds and a game-best four assists and three steals.