Bristol Reporter

Corsairs Fall Short in Overtime Loss to Wartburg

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball team fell to Wartburg College, 82-76, in overtime on Tuesday. This was UMD's opening match of the Cruzin' Classic tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 
 
The Corsairs drop to 3-6 overall while the Knights advance to 4-6. This overtime thriller was a battle between the two most winningest active coaches in Division III basketball, as UMass Dartmouth head coach Brian Baptiste looked for his 700th victory.  

The Corsairs put on a balanced attack, led by fifth year Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Senior Jackson Zancan impacted the game on both ends, with 15 points and four blocks. His classmate Michael Eurquheart Jr. added 13 points off the bench on six of eight from the field with five rebounds.  

Leading the way for Wartburg with 23 points and nine rebounds was junior Marshun Williams, who was clutch from the free throw line late in the game. Senior Jack Molstead added 18 points for the Knights and his classmate Codey Hicks tallied 12. 
 
There were 16 total lead-changes in this one, that was competitive from start to finish. Wartburg jumped out in front early, after a Molstead three pointer put them up 5-0. The Corsairs answered immediately, with a three from junior Isaac Percy and a couple of buckets from Sanders-Dyer to go back on top. The teams traded blows in the first half, each team gaining the lead seven separate times. Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the first half, but UMass Dartmouth would go into the break with a small lead, 33-30. 
 
To begin the second half, Zancan scored a layup and nailed a shot from behind the arc to put the Corsairs up by eight. After a small Wartburg rally to bring the game back within three, UMD's defense stepped up with a couple of back-to-back steals from Sanders-Dyer and Zancan, which led to two fast break scores for Eurquhart that put them back up by seven. 
 
The aggressiveness on defense that helped the Corsairs extend their lead, ended up being what hurt them in the final six minutes of regulation. The Knights attempted an astounding 23 free throws in the second half alone and converted on 18 of them. Wartburg's high efficiency from the stripe brought them all the way back, and they gained their first lead of the half with just one minute remaining. Down by one with eight seconds left, Baptiste called a timeout and setup a play that led to Sanders-Dyer on the free throw line with seven seconds remaining. He missed the first, and converted the second, to even the score at 67-67 and to send the game to overtime. 
 
The Knights jumped out ahead in the beginning of overtime, with a Williams three-pointer followed by a layup from fifth year Keagan John. Both Sanders-Dyer and junior Jayquan Leonard fouled out of the game early in OT. Before fouling out, Sander-Dyer made a layup that brought the game within one point at 74-73. With just 17 seconds left, down 78-73, Zancan hit a huge three to cut it to a two-point deficit. At this point, the Corsairs had to foul in order to keep their hopes alive, but four consecutive made free throws for Molstead would ice the game for the Knights.
 
Wartburg College went 29/42 from the free throw line, while the Corsairs only shot 18 free throws and converted on just eight. UMD did win the rebound and turnover battle, and scored 25 points off of turnovers to WU's 13. 
 
With the 81-76 overtime loss, Baptiste remains one game away from the 700-win milestone. He and UMass Dartmouth will have another chance tomorrow, against Carthage College in their final matchup of the Cruzin' Classic. Tip off is at 8:00 pm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

Original source can be found here