BOSTON, Mass. – Backed by a career-high 24 points from senior center
Cam Dunbury, the UMass Dartmouth men's basketball team battle back to defeat UMass Boston, 95-90 in Little East action on Wednesday night. The Corsairs move to 13-11 overall and 7-8 in conference action, while the Beacons slip to 16-9 and 12-4 in the LEC.
Trailing by a 41-34 margin at halftime, the Corsairs came out firing as a jumper by senior center
Cam Dunbury closed the gap to 46-40 at 17:59. A pair of step-back buckets by Cameron Perkins opened a 53-44 lead for the home team less than two minutes later, but the Corsairs continued to press as a layup from sophomore guard
Camden DiChiara started a 5-0 run that made it a 55-51 game following a three from senior guard
Nic Boyd at 13:46.
Following a Beacons three, senior guard
Darius Peterson nailed a shot from downtown of his own, closing the gap back to a four-point differential (58-54) seconds later. Despite the momentum, the home team went on a 6-0 run, backed by a three from Skyler Venezia to open a 64-54 lead for UMB with 11:39 remaining.
The Corsairs stole the momentum back, using two free throws from Dunbury, a three-pointer from DiChiara and a layup by Peterson narrowed the margin to three (64-61) at 10:21. Both teams continued to battle, matching one another bucket-for-bucket as a three-pointer from senior guard
Nic Boyd closed the gap to three (73-70) with 7:22 to play.
A driving layup from Reyes saw the Corsairs pull to within one and a dunk by Dunbury gave the visitors a 77-76 lead, but an ensuing foul on the UMD senior saw the Beacons head to the line, dropping in free throws to regain the lead (79-77). The action wasn't over yet as rookie guard
Kordell Philemon drove to the basket to tie it up at 79-all with 5:01 to play in the game.
The Corsairs regained the lead once more as Boyd sank a pull-up jumper and later nailed a three-pointer to open an 85-79 advantage at 3:13 to go. With 33 seconds to go, Clayton McLaren sank a layup, cutting the margin to 90-87 in favor of the Corsairs. The Corsairs took advantage at the free throw line late as DiChiara, Reyes and Dunbury all banked shots to make it a 95-90 score as UMD held on for the victory.
Dunbury, who shot 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the floor, added a game-high nine rebounds with a block and a steal. Reyes added 19 points on 8-of-15 (53.3%) shooting from the floor with eight rebounds, six assists and a steal. Boyd added 14 points, including a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range, while DiChiara posted 13 points, while Peterson had 11 points on 4-of-8 (50%) shooting from the floor.
The Corsairs, who shot 50.0% (34-68) from the floor, return to action on Saturday with their regular season finale at WestConn. UMD looks to solidify their spot in the LEC Tournament against the Wolves at 3pm.
