With its second straight win and second consecutive LEC victory, UMass Dartmouth improves to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference.  Southern Maine suffers its fourth consecutive loss to dip to 5-8 overall and 1-2 in the Little East.

Bouchard was a solid 7-for-16 overall adding seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead three Corsair players in double figures.  Sophomore Abi Akanni (Fitchburg, Mass.) added 14 points and seven rebounds, while classmate Wale Abraham (Lynn, Mass.) toosed in 10 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.  Abraham also swatted away six shots for the Corsairs.

Huskies' senior Conor Sullivan (Scarborough, Maine) was 8-for-14 from the field for a team-high 18 points.  Sullivan added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.  Senior James Odneal (Pontiac, Mich.) added 14 point and seven rebounds, while senior Tyler Penney (Barnstead, N.H./Bishop Brady) added 10 points, five boards and four blocked shots.

After layup from Odneal pulled USM to within a point of the Corsairs, 42-41, with 13:37 remaining in the game, UMass Dartmouth used a pivotal 10-0 run to grab control of the game. Bouchard keyed the Corsairs' run with a three off of an assist from Akanni.  Abraham added two free throws and an offensive rebound and a put back in the run. 

USM climbed to within nine points of the Corsairs twice over the next 10 minutes.  Trailing by 12, 60-48, with 8:11 to play, Penney hit two free throws and Odneal converted a layup for a 60-51 Corsair lead with 7:42 to play, but a layup from junior Alex Rodrigues (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) and a dagger of three from Bouchard gave UMD a 65-51 lead with 6:27 to play.  After Bouchard's three, USM never got any closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Southern Maine travels to Rhode Island College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.). UMass Dartmouth hosts Eastern Connecticut on Thursday (7:30 p.m.). 

–cac–