NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass.  – Jordan Rezendes scored 42 points to lead the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs to a 102-94 overtime win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball battle Saturday afternoon. 

With the win, UMass Dartmouth improves to 15-10 overall and 8-6 in the Little East.  Southern Maine drops to 15-10 overall and 9-5 in the conference. Southern Maine is the two-seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament and will host seventh-seed Rhode Island College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.).  UMD secured a home playoff spot as the fourth seed for the LEC quarterfinals with its win over the Huskies and will host either Plymouth State or Western Connecticut on Tuesday.

Husky senior Jose Nouchanthavong (Westbrook, Maine) drew the foul and sank three free throws in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime, but the Corsairs outscored USM 17-9 in the extra period to take the overtime win. Rezendes scored 11 of the Corsairs 17 points in overtime.

Trailing by as many as 11 points midway through the first half, Southern Maine fought its way back into the game.  After UMD's Arinze Obiora sank the back end of two free throws to put the Corsairs up 23-15 with 8:40 to play in the first, Southern Maine rallied to close out the half down by three, 39-36.
             The game remained close in the second half with the Corsairs remaining in front of USM by one or two possessions through the opening 10 minutes.  After a three from Nouchanthavong cut the Corsair lead with 59-56 with 9:45 to play, UMD used a quick 7-2 spurt to snag an eight-point, 66-58, lead with 8:20 top capped by a layup from Abi Akkanni. 

USM responded with an 11-2 run to grab its first lead of the game, 69-69, with 6:22 remaining in regulation on a three-pointer from Nouchanthavong.  The Huskies' lead was short-lived, however, as UMD's Jon Robinson sank a three with 5:17 on the clock to knot the game up at 71.  After Robinson's three both teams went back and fourth exchanging the lead five times over the next four minutes.  Nouchanthavong tied the score up at 82 with 1:09 to play with a pair of free throws, only to see Rezendes make 3-of-4 over the next two UMD possession to give the Corsairs the 85-82 lead with 26 seconds to play.  After a USM timeout, Nouchanthavong created some space outside of the arc and drew his defender into the air to earn the shooting foul and send the game into overtime.

In the OT period, USM started with the momentum scoring the first four points on scores from junior Zack Leal (York, Maine).  However, UMD took control as Rezendes drew a pair of shooting fouls and went 4-for-4 from the line to ignite an 11-0 run to seize control of  the game 96-89 with 58 seconds to play.  Rezendes scored nine of the Corsairs' points in the pivotal run, including a 6-for-6 mark from the charity stripe and a three. 

Rezendes finished the game 9-for-24 from the field and 21-of-24 from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds and five assists.  Akanni had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Robinson tossed in 12 points.  Nick Portelance rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.

Nouchanthavong had his second consecutive 30-point game, scoring 34 points on 9-of-17 shooting, adding six assists and five rebounds.  Leal added 18 points and seven rebounds, while junior Atencio Martin (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) added 13 points and 10 boards.   Senior Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) was the fourth USM player in double figures with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

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