By Mike Vesci / Sports Information Staff

DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- Less than 24 hours after a resounding overtime comeback victory, the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team looked to continue its winning ways against the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in a Little East Conference game at the Tripp Athletic Center  Sunday afternoon.

Although sophomore forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport) finished with his second career double-double in two days, with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds (ten in the first half), the Warriors (4-3, 2-3 LEC) couldn't maintain the momentum of Saturday afternoon's thriller over the Corsairs, and fell in the second game of the home-and-home weekend series against UMD (6-2, 6-2 LEC), 90-72.

With a final game tentatively remaining against Plymouth State University in the near future, UMass is technically even in the standings (with two games in hand) with Keene State College (5-1) atop the Little East. The Warriors are in third place and host Keene State Wednesday at 7 p.m. and tentatively have two regular-season games remaining against Plymouth State. Rhode Island College is fourth (1-5), with Plymouth having managed to play only twice due to COVID. Castleton cancelled the remainder of its season after losing its opener.

An LEC tournament featuring the top four teams is tentatively scheduled for March 3 and March 6 at the site of higher seeds.

While Eastern is perfect in four games this year at Geissler Gymnasium, the Warriors fall to 0-3 on the road. The Warriors had an overall four-game win streak snapped while UMD improved to 4-1 at the Tripp Center.

It marked the first time in the last eight games that either team won by double digits in the series, with the previous seven decided by an average of 3.4 points, and none by more than six points in those seven games.
 

After the Warriors jumped out to an early five-point lead Sunday, both teams traded baskets before the Corsairs used a 15-3 run spanning four minutes to take a 13-point advantage with 7:15 remaining in the first half. Despite playing its fifth game in nine days (second back-to-back in that stretch) Eastern did not back down, however, responding with a 13-3 run of its own to cut the UMass lead down to three with 1:15 left in the first half. UMD sophomore guard Justin Lopes saw his first action of the season, scoring five points in the final two minutes of the first half to end the Warriors' run.

With UMD leading by three in the closing seconds of the half,  junior guard Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer hit a 65-foot three-pointer from near the Corsair's bench, increasing the UMass lead to 37-31 heading into the break.

A slow start to the second half by the Warriors coupled with a 12-2 run by the Corsairs lead to Eastern falling behind by 16 in the early stages of the half. The teams traded blows with neither giving up any ground on the scoreboard before UMD freshman guard Isaac Percy sank a long two-pointer that gave the Corsairs a 19-point lead with 12:30 remaining.

Still trailing by 19 with just under ten minutes left, Eastern looked to make the same magic happen again as they had done a day earlier against its LEC foes. Over the next minute and a half, a barrage of three-pointers by freshmen guards AJ Edwards (New Haven) and Cade Ensinger (Deep River), along with senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) helped cut the Warrior's deficit to nine. Eastern would pull within seven with 6:41 left in the game after sophomore forward Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford) hit a jump shot, forcing veteran UMD coach Brian Baptiste to call timeout.

That seven-point differential was the closest the Warriors would get, however, as UMass responded with a decisive run of 13 unanswered points – 11 by senior guard Jake Ashworth en route to a 20-point performance which included five three-pointers. The run increased the Corsairs' lead to 20 points with 4:32 left and they were never threatened thereafter.

Leading by as many as 21 points in the closing minutes, UMass rebounded from its 21-point collapse on the road a day early.

In contrast to Saturday – when the Warriors outscored UMD by 18 points from the foul line and shot 80 percent from the stripe – both teams got 12 points from the line Sunday, with Eastern managing only 60 percent.

Along with Lott's double-double, three other Warriors finished with double-digit point totals as junior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) shared team-high scoring honors with 13, Muckle adding 12, and Edwards 11. In similar fashion to Saturday's career-high 24 point explosion, Edwards scored all of his points Sunday after halftime.

The Corsairs were led by Ashworth's aforementioned 20-point performance (14 in the second half) and seven rebounds but had contributions from across their entire lineup. Sophomore forward Jackson Zancan had a double-double of his own, scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting along with a game-high 16 rebounds. Freshman guard Isaac Percy contributed 14 points on the day and close behind him was junior guard and team scoring leader Marcus Azor with 13 points, six rebounds, and seven assists.

Zancan, Ashworth, and Azor's combined 29 rebounds helped lead the Corsairs to a +7 edge on the boards.

Both teams shot well from beyond the arc as Eastern converted on 10 of their 25 attempts from three (40 per cent) while UMass went 10-for-26 from long-range (38.5 percent).

In the two-game set, Lott and Edwards led Eastern with 17.5 scoring averages, with Woods at 11.5 and Muckle at 10.0. Lott was also the top rebounder with a 13.5 average and shot a team-leading 73.3 from the floor and was 13-for-22 from the stripe. Muckle averaged 5.5 rebounds and Edwards was 10-of-11 from the foul line and handed out a team-high seven assists with a team-high six steals.

In the series, Muckle had15 three-point attempts to move into second place all-time with 648. He needs 20 attempts and 35 made to take over as the career leader in those categories.

Ashworth topped UMD in the series with a 17.5 scoring average and with eight three-pointers, and averaged 7.5 rebounds, second to Zancan (11.5). Azor averaged a team-best 5.0 assists.