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Whelan Drive vs. Boston
James Liebowitz
Thomas Whelan set a new career-high with 39 points at UMass Dartmouth
96
Southern Me. USM 6-9,2-4 Little East
98
Winner UMass Dartmouth UMD 5-9,2-4 Little East
Southern Me. USM
6-9,2-4 Little East
96
Final
98
UMass Dartmouth UMD
5-9,2-4 Little East
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Me. USM 50 46 96
UMass Dartmouth UMD 50 48 98

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Christina Cracolici, Director of Athletic Communications

UMass Dartmouth Squeaks Past Southern Maine 98-96

 NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass.  – Nic Boyd scored a team-high 23 points to lead five players in double-figures as the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs came out on top of a closely contest game with a 98-96 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Thursday night at the Tripp Athletic Center.
 
Boyd was 7-for-13 from three as the Corsairs connected on 15 from long-range.  Ryan Flauto had 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double, and Josh Lopes, Isaac Percy and John Marcille each had 14 points.
 
Junior Thomas Whelan (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) led all scorers with a career-high 39 points, shooting 18-for-25 from the field, adding five assists, five rebounds and two steals.  Graduate student Bryce Lausier (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) notched his 11th double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Freshman Evans Sterling (New Sharon, Maine/Mount Blue) notched a career-high 13 points off of the bench, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, while junior Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) had 11 points.
 
The Records:
Southern Maine (6-9, 2-4 Little East)
UMass Dartmouth (5-9, 2-4 Little East)
 
Series History:  Today's game marked the 87th meeting in series history between the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs and the Southern Maine Huskies.  The Corsairs lead the overall series 73-14. The Huskies and Corsairs are 3-3 in their last six meetings prior to tonight's meeting, including a 2023-2024 series split with each team winning its home game.
 
How It Happened:
  • Down by 10, 21-11, with just under six minutes gone in the first half, Southern Maine rallied with a 12-2 run over the next 3:43 to tie the game up at 23 with 9:33 to play.  Sophomore Evan Willey (Casco, Maine/Bridgton Academy) had five points in the Huskies run, including a game-tying three.
  • Whelan scored on a driving layup for the Huskies on their next possession for a 25-23 lead and then four more unanswered points to propel the Huskies ahead 29-23 with 7:55 to go extending the Huskies' run to 18-2. Lopes stopped the scoring drought for UMD with a layup igniting an 8-2 Corsair run, tying the game up at 31 with 6:45 to play. From their the game settled into a back-and-forth contest the rest of the half.
  • Two free throws from Lausier and a layup from Whelan for his 20th points of the first half gave USM a 43-39 lead with just under two for the halftime break before UMD used an 11-2 run over the next 1:37 to slip ahead 50-45 with 20 seconds remaining led by Boyd's six points. Down two possessions, Lausier made a pair of free throws, and the Huskies' used a steal from senior Juneau Anicette and a three from Colon to tie the game at 50 as time expired.
  • The second game remained tight as teams traded baskets. Down 57-53 with 17 on the clock, UMD looked to seize control with a 14-4 run to lead 67-61, again on the heels of Boyd, with 13:51 on the clock. However, the Huskies outscored UMD 14-7 over the next 3:21 to narrowly lead 75-74 with 10:03 showing. Whelan scored eight of USM's points in the run.
  • USM and UMD continued to push back and forth and a traditional three-point play from Sterling gave the Huskies a slim 92-91 dadvantage with 4:07 to play. However, UMD's Flauto outscored USM 6-2 over the next 2:05 to give the Corsairs a 97-74 lead with 2:05 in regulation. After a series of turnovers and missed shots from both sides, Whelan grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a layup with second to go for a 97-96 Corsair lead.  Forced to foul, Lopes made 1-of-2 at the free throw line to push the Corsairs up 98-96, and USM was unable to get a shot to tie the game for the final.
  • Inside The Stats:
  • Southern Maine shot 54.5 percent (36-for-66) from the field, 35.3 percent from three (6-for-17), and 81.8 percent from the free throw line (18-for-22).  The Corsairs shot 43.4 percent (36-for-83) and 34.1 from three (15-for-44) and 68.8 from the free throw line (11-for-16).
  • The Corsairs won the rebounding battle, out-doing the Huskies 47-38, including a decisive 24-10 edge on the offensive boards. UMD scored 26 second chance points compared to the Huskies' 14.
  • The game is the second consecutive the Southern Maine has lost by two points.
 
 
Up Next:
The Huskies return home to host VTSU-Castleton on Saturday, January 18 (2:00 pm) in conference action, and then host Plymouth State on Wednesday, January 22 (7:30 pm).  Southern Maine returns to the road and heads to nationally-ranked Keene State on Saturday, January 25 (3:00 pm). 
 
 
-cac-
 
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