Men's Basketball Tripped Up On The Road By UMass Dartmouth

N. Dartmouth, MA --- UMass Dartmouth junior Jordan Rezendes (Onset, MA) dropped in 36 points with nine rebounds and six assists as he helped pace the Corsairs to an 87-61 victory over Worcester State in non-conference men's basketball action this evening at the Tripp Athletic Center.

In the victory, UMass Dartmouth improved to 4-3 while the Lancers fell to 1-4 in the setback.

Rezendes did his damage on a 13-for-17 effort from the floor with four treys and a perfect 6-for-6 performance at the free throw line.

Senior Alex Rodrigues (Fall River, MA/Durfee) added 18 points and six boards off the bench as classmate Josh Castillo (Lynn, MA) chipped in with 10 points.

For Worcester State, sophomore Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) missed out on a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine boards.

Classmate Jeremy Bacon (Milford, MA/Hopedale) collected nine points and seven rebounds while senior Charles Gunter (Boston, MA/New Mission) stuffed the stat sheet with six points, eight caroms, two assists and two blocks.

Sophomore Noris Cuevas-Nova (Amherst, MA) also registered nine points with six rebounds in the losing effort.

For the contest, UMass Dartmouth hit half of their shots from the field (31-for-61), 44 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc (7-for-16) and only missed three free throws (86 percent – 18-for-21).

On the other side of the box score, the Lancers sank 36 percent of their shots (21-for-59), only rang in three of their 14 bids from downtown and nearly missed half of their tries from the charity stripe (16-for-31 – 52 percent).

The Corsairs dominated the paint (52-34) and feasted off of 22 WSU miscues with a 21-7 margin in the category. Due in large part of a 47-32 rebounding margin and a 22-8 offensive carom edge, the visitors doubled up the hosts 16-8 in second chance points.

Following four lead changes and three ties, UMass Dartmouth turned a 22-22 score with 6:48 remaining in the opening frame into a 44-27 advantage with a 22-5 surge to close out the period. Rezendes had 14 of his points in the run for UMD.

In the second half, the Corsairs maintained their double-digit advantage, but WSU did shave the deficit to as many as 21 near the midway point (58-37). UMass Dartmouth though surged ahead and sealed victory, leading by their largest margin at 33 in the closing minutes of the contest (79-46).

Worcester State will participate in the Bear/Camel Classic over the weekend starting with a Saturday match-up versus Coast Guard in New London at 6 o'clock. UMass Dartmouth takes on local rival Bridgewater State on the road on Thursday in a 7 PM contest.