Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Sophomore guard Marcus Azor swished a game-winning three-pointer from the top of the circle at the buzzer to send Little East Conference leader University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to an 82-79 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in men's basketball Wednesday evening at the Tripp Athletic Center.
Eastern (8-12, 4-7 LEC) capitalized on two UMass Dartmouth 13-7, 8-3 LEC) turnovers on consecutive possessions to tie the game, 79-79, on a jumper from junior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) with 54.5 seconds left after a UMD travel, and a put-back by Muckle with 31.4 seconds left off a steal by senior guard Jake Collagan (Wethersfield).
Inbounding from 94 feet away with 31.4 seconds left, UMass ran the clock down before Azor – closely guarded by Muckle at the top of the key – launched the game-winning three-pointer that replays clearly showed came after the expiration of the 30-second shot clock.
The Eastern loss – coupled with Keene State College's 77-73 victory over visiting Plymouth State University Wednesday – drops Eastern 1 ½ games behind Keene for the sixth and final LEC tournament playoff spot. Eastern has five LEC regular-season games remaining, Keene four. Keene and Eastern had met in the finals of the LEC tournament each of the last three years, Eastern winning twice.
The last six of the Warriors' seven LEC losses gave come by a total of 22 points, including one in overtime.
The six-foot Azor keyed his team down the stretch, scoring his team's final nine points (three on dunks) from the floor and nine of the Corsair's final 13 points over the final eight minutes, with his jumper with 3:08 left giving the hosts a 75-70 lead.
Eastern senior Jake McCarthy (Berlin) scored eight straight Eastern points and ten of 12 with a succession of short jumpers and baskets in the paint as the Warriors struggled to remain close in the second half. Despite McCarthy's efforts, the Warriors fell back by 12, 59-47 with 12 minutes left before a 14-2 run – keyed by McCarthy and consecutive three-point field goals from sophomore guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) and sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Norwich) – both coming off feeds from McCarthy -- pulled Eastern even, 61-61, with nine minutes left.
The Warriors never led thereafter but tied the game for the final time, 79-79, on Muckle's put-back with 31.4 seconds left. On that play, Collagan forced the UMD turnover when he grabbed a loose ball but couldn't complete an off-balance drive from the right side. Thomas was able to keep the ball alive, however, when he tipped the rebound, and Muckle grabbed it and put it back to tie the game.
UMD missed two of six free throws in a span of 25 seconds in the final two minutes that had helped Eastern back from a 77-73 deficit. The free throws were awarded when Eastern was called for questionable fouls on missed UMass three-point attempts.
Coming off the bench, the 6-foot-8 inch McCarthy led five double-figure Eastern scorers with a career-high 18 points (his first career double-figure game) on 9-of-11 shooting and a season-tying seven rebounds. Collagan had 16 points, Thomas 15 points and nine rebounds, and Close and Muckle 12 points each, both shooting 50 percent from the floor.
Eastern shot 52.4 percent from the floor, including 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from three-point range.
Azor, who had team-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds in his team's earlier loss to Eastern, paced UMD with 21 points (10-of-16 shooting) and added five rebounds, with Adam Seablom adding 19 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and Jake Ashworth adding 17 points. He nailed all three of his three-pointers.
Eastern's bench outscored UMD's bench, 22-0, in the second half, with McCarthy accounting for 14 of Eastern's second-half total of 46 and four UMD starters recording all 48 of the Corsairs' second-half points.
The win allows the Corsairs to escape with a regular-season split after Eastern had come from 11 points down late in the first half to score 55 second-half points in an 87-83 win a month ago at Geissler Gymnasium, giving head coach Bill Geitner his 300th career coaching victory.
Eastern hosts the University of Southern Maine Saturday at 3 p.m. in a conference game.
