GORHAM, Maine – Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer scored 21 of his game-high 28 points helping the Corsairs to a 42-27 halftime lead as sixth seed UMass Dartmouth upset third seed University of Southern Maine Huskies 77-75 in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Little East Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tuesday night at Hill Gymnasium.
Sanders-Dyer was one of three Corsairs in double-figures. He was 7-for-9 from the floor in the first half, including a remarkable 4-for-5 from three as UMD shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) to open the game. He added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Isaac Percy added 15 points and nine rebounds, while
John Martins Jr. tossed in 14 points and grabbed five boards. Jackson Zancan had a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points and two blocked shots. Zancan helped the Corsairs to a 41-30 lead in rebounding.
Southern Maine senior
Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) led the Huskies with 27 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Junior
Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) and freshmen
Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) and
Mark Asare (Roswell, Ga./Centennial) each added 10 points.
The Records:
No. 6 UMass Dartmouth (9-17, 7-9 Little East)
No. 3 Southern Maine (16-10, 10-6 Little East)
Series History:
Meeting for the 84
th time in series history, UMass Dartmouth leads the overall series 71-13. The Huskies have won the last two consecutively over the Corsairs to earn the 2022-23 regular season series sweep.
How It Happened:
- In a one-possession game, 26-23, after USM's Asare snagged an offensive rebound and scored the putback, the Corsairs rattled off a 16-4 run over the final 5:33 of the game to take a commanding 42-27 lead at the break. Four dfiffernt UMD players scored in the pivotal run, including six points from Sanders-Dyer. Sanders-Dyer scored the final bucket of the half after coming up with a steal, and Zancan blocked the Huskies final attempt before time expired. USM was 2-for-7 during that stretch with three turnovers.
- The Corsairs stayed comfortably in front of the Huskies leading by as many as 23 points, 52-29, after a three from Martins Jr. at the 16:27 mark. UMD led by 19, 59-40, after a Percy jumper at the 12:02 mark before USM used an 11-2 run to make it a game.
- After Percy's jumper, USM scored seven straight highlighted by a deep three from Dixon. UMD substitute Bryson Anderws stopped the run with a driving layup before a Dixon free throw and a three from Hawes made it 61-51 with 8:12 to go.
- A pair of free throws from Sanders-Dyer and a layup from Percy sandwiched a bucket from Hawes for a 65-53 Corsair lead with 7:28 to play before the Huskies rattled off another run, 12-4, to make it a two possession game 69-65 with 4:24 to play. Hawes scored five points in the run.
- The Corsairs pushed their lead back to seven, 72-65, with 3:14 to play, but back-to-back jumpers in the paint from Hawes and a steal and a layup from Dixon made a 6-0 run for a one-point game 72-71 with 1:53 to go.
- Martins Jr. answered for UMD with a three-pointer at 1:35 for a 75-71 game and both teams missed on their next two trips down the court before Hawes made it 75-73 with just 14 seconds to play with another driving layup. After a timeout, USM forced the Corsairs to turn the ball over on the inbounds and had a chance to tie the game with a one-and-one but the first was missed and Percy cleared the rebound for the Corsairs. Forced to foul, Percy hit two to put the game out of reach 77-73. Huskies' senior Jason Lombard (Anchorage, Alaska/Chugiak) scored the final bucket of the game as time expired for the 77-75 final.
Inside The Stats:
- UMass Dartmouth shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from three-point range, including a blistering 9-of-15 in the first half.
- Southern Maine scored 22 points off of 21 Corsair turnovers. The Huskies committed just 12 turnovers in the game.
Up Next:
Southern Maine concludes its 2022-23 season.
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