Box Score
By Nik Lassonde '25 / Sports Information Staff
 
DARTMOUTH, Mass- An opportunity to bounce back was presented to the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team after a truly heartbreaking, last-second loss at University of Massachusetts Boston last Saturday that warranted national media attention. This time around, the Warriors saw a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth team that had escaped with a five-point win seven weeks ago at Geissler Gym.
 
This time around, it was a different story. Eastern (4-15, 1-9 LEC)  started out strong as it got out to a three point lead in the opening minutes. The first half offense for the Warriors was powered by first-year guard Esco Greene (New Britain) who shot 6 of 8 from the field in the game and reached double figures for the first with a career-high 15 points in the game.
 
Sadly, that was the best it was going to be. UMass Dartmouth (10-8, 7-2 LEC) went on a 13-0 run late in the game to end any hopes of a comeback on the way to an 84-66 Little East Conference victory  that kept the Corsairs unbeaten (5-0) against conference opponents this year at the Tripp Athletic Center.
 
With the loss, Eastern remains in a tie for eighth place in the LEC with Plymouth State University (the top six teams qualify for next month's LEC tournament), while UMass remains in sole possession of third place, a half-game behind Western Connecticut and 2 ½ games behind unbeaten leader Keene State College.
 
In sweeping Eastern in the regular-season series for the first time in 15 years (the teams had split the regular-season series the last seven years after Eastern had posted a sweep the previous seven seasons), the Corsairs sent the Warriors to their sixth loss in the last seven games and dropped them to 1-8 on their opponent's court this year. Since losing its first four this year, UMD has captured ten of its last 14.
 
UMass scored 42 points in each half, leading by 12 at halftime.
 
There were bright spots for the Warriors tonight. Sophomore guard Dominick Dao (Terryville) shot 8-of-10 from the field and 4 of 5 from long range en route to a team-high 20-point performance (in addition to six rebounds) – his highest total since he netted 30 in the season-opener.
 
Sophomore forward Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) had nine points and ten rebounds while first-year senior transfer forward Cam Stiepock (Glastonbury) and fourth-year senior guard Cade Ensinger (Deep River) both made two shots from long range to get six points.
 
A key to victory for the Corsairs was their shot selection and maintaining their lead. They shot 54 percent in the first half,  thanks to Josh Lopes (21 points) and Jackson Zancan (game-high 22 points), the latter also reaching the 1000^th career point mark.
 
UMass had the lead for the rest of the game following the eighth-minute media timeout. 
 
The Warriors return home Saturday at 3 p.m. to face the University of Southern Maine in an LEC contest. The Huskies (9-9, 5-5 LEC) dominated the Warriors, 81-59, seven weeks ago in the first meeting in breaking a four-game losing streak and handing Eastern its seventh straight loss.