Corsairs Take 108-69 Victory over Worcester State

WORCESTER, Mass. – The UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs' senior guard, Jordan Rezendes (Onset, Mass.), scored a game-high 48 points in the 108-69 victory over the Worcester State University Lancers Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup at Laska Gymnasium on the campus of Assumption College. With the win, the Corsairs advance to 4-2 on the season, while the Lancers fall to 2-4.

Rezendes' game-high 48 points was just three short from his career-high 51 points scored in a game against Keene State last year. Rezendes went 10-for-13 (76.9%) from the 3-point line, an overall 17-for-26 (65.4%) from the field, and a perfect 4-for-4 (100%) from the free-throw line. Not only did he have an outstanding performance offensively, but he also had a game-high eight rebounds, a game-high seven steals, and three assists on the evening.

Also scoring in double digits for the Corsairs was junior guard Jon Robinson (Chatham, Mass.) with 18 points, junior guard Abi Akanni (Fitchburg, Mass.) with 13, and freshman center Nick Portelance (Fairhaven, Mass.) with 10. Portelance added in seven rebounds (three offensively), while Akanni had six (three offensively) and tallied up a team-high six assists for UMass Dartmouth. Off the bench, Atakan Akcam (Hoosac Falls, N.Y.) scored eight points and had seven rebounds for the Corsairs.

UMass Dartmouth held the shot percent advantage over the Lancers in all three categories: field goals made (55.3%-to-41.1%), 3-point shots made (68.2%-to-16.7%), and free-throws (81.8%-to-33.3%).

The Lancers' top scorer was junior forward, Ryan DiBernardo (Springfield, Mass.), who registered a team-high 14 points. A trio of Worcester State players scored 12 points, including junior guard Jamal Mustapha (Worcester Mass.), junior center Paul Brooks (Arlington, Mass.), and junior guard Bilal Shakir (Worcester, Mass.). Leading the team defensively was DiBernardo with five defensive rebounds, and Mustapha with four.

UMass Dartmouth called the game out early, as they took the lead from the start, and upped their lead to 10 just seven minutes into the first half. Worcester State's Alex Santos' (Lawrence, Mass.) jump shot at 9:37 in the first closed the gap to six, but the Corsairs pulled away once again on shots from Akam, Portelance, Robinson, and Rezendes.

With a halftime score of 56-39 and the Lancers trailing, some break needed to be in the Lancers' favor. Though, the Corsairs' Rezendes came out with seven 3-point shots in the second half, and an overall great effort from the UMass Dartmouth offense, resulting in the 108-69 victory for the Corsairs.

Next up the Lancers will travel to Norwich University this upcoming weekend (Dec. 5-6) to take part in the Hockenbury Tournament. UMass Dartmouth's men's basketball team will entertain Bridgewater State this Thursday (Dec. 3) in a home game starting at 7:00 p.m.