Bristol Reporter

Brian Baptiste Reaches Career-Win 700

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball team came away with a 68-57 road victory over Castleton University, but this was not just any victory. With this win, head coach Brian Baptiste has reached a huge, and not-so-common milestone. Baptiste secured his 700th career victory, he is the only active NCAA Division III basketball coach to reach that number, which makes him the most winningest coach in all of Division III basketball. 
 
Baptiste has had a remarkable career, with multiple deep-NCAA tournament runs over his 40 years of coaching the Corsairs. His all-time record currently sits at 700-369 (65.5%). His 700 wins is the most among all active NCAA Division III coaches, and is the 13th most across all Divisions. 

UMass Dartmouth's first win of 2023 improves their record to 4-11 overall and 3-4 against conference opponents. Meanwhile, the Spartons fall to 3-11 and are now 0-6 in conference play.
 
The Corsairs were led by senior Jackson Zancan (16 points, 7 rebounds) and junior Isaac Percy (15 points, 3 rebounds). Grad student Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer also added 12 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. 
 
Castleton saw two players in double-figures. The Spartans were led by junior Justin Schwarzbeck (18 points, 4 rebounds) and grad student Tray Wright (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists).
 
In the first half, Castleton was red-hot, shooting 11-of-20 (55.0%) from the field and 5-of-9 (55.6%) from deep. UMass Dartmouth was able to persevere over the efficient shooting by causing six turnovers in the half. The Corsairs capitalized on their extra opportunities and led at the half, 38-34, after a late three-pointer from Zancan that extended the lead to four.  
 
In the second half, the two LEC teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes, until back-to-back threes from Percy and senior John Martins Jr. put the Corsairs back on top by four. After a couple more triples were knocked down by Zancan and Sanders-Dyer, the Corsairs led 56-52 with six minutes remaining. 
 
With just minutes remaining in the contest, two big buckets from Zancan and Martins Jr. put UMassD up by eight. The win was in sight for the Corsairs with three minutes remaining. The Spartans were forced to play aggressive defense, sending the Corsairs to the free-throw line late in the game. Percy and fellow junior Jayquan Leonard each went 2-for-2 from the stripe in the final minute, which was enough to seal the victory for UMass Dartmouth and for coach Baptiste, who is happy to have secured career-win number 700 with a 68-57 final over Castleton.
 
There's still plenty of regular season to go for the Corsairs. They return to action on Wednesday when they host Rhode Island College (5-10, 3-4 LEC) for a 7:30 PM tip-off.   

Original source can be found here