Bristol Reporter

Late Scoring Run not Enough to Lift Corsairs Over Cardinals

Senior Jackson Zancan and freshman Ryan Flauto each registered double-doubles, but it wasn't enough as the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's basketball team fell short in an 80-75 loss to Wesleyan on Monday. 

Zancan led the Corsairs (5-12, 4-4 LEC) with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 8-of-15 (53.3%) from the field and 3-of-5 (60.0%) from three-point range. Fifth year Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer nailed five of his eight three-point attempts on his way tom 17 points and five rebounds. Sanders-Dyer also made plays on the defensive end with a steal and two blocks. Flauto played 19 minutes off the bench for the Corsairs and put up a double-double in that time with 10 points and 10 rebounds. 

Senior Gabe Ravetz led the way for the Cardinals (13-5, 4-0 NESCAC) with a game-high 23 points. His fellow seniors Preston Maccoux and Shackylle Dezonie also scored in double figures. Wesleyan sophomore Nicky Johnson tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists. 
 
The first ten minutes of the contest were back-and-forth until a few consecutive buckets came from Johnson and Dezonie for the Cardinals that extended their lead to double digits with two minutes left in the half. A late three-pointer from Wesleyan's sophomore Shane Regan was immediately answered by UMass Dartmouth freshman Nic Boyd, who has been shooting it well of late, to keep the differential at 10. The Cardinals led the Corsairs 39-29 at halftime. 

Wesleyan found its offensive rhythm to start the second half as the hosts utilized a 12-6 run to balloon its advantage to 51-35. The Corsairs began to try to claw their way back into it. A couple of buckets and a three from Zancan narrowed the lead back tojust nine points with 14:30 remaining. The Corsairs found their shooting stroke in the second half as well, shooting 48.5% from the floor and a scorching 53.9% from deep. With five minutes remaining in the game, Wesleyan had extended its lead to as high as 17 once again thanks to efficient shooting from their seniors. 
 
UMass Dartmouth was not ready to throw in the towel yet, though. Senior John Martins Jr. sunk a three to get it started and was followed up by two more deep balls from Zancan that brought the Corsairs back within six points with just under a minute left. UMD got the stop they needed, and Sander's-Dyer hit the big three they needed to bring it back to a one-score game. Maccoux missed the front-end of the 1-and-1, giving UMass Dartmouth a chance to tie in the final moments. Freshman Darius Peterson got a three ball off with two seconds left that did not fall, and after fouling and giving up a couple of free-throws, the Corsairs could not complete the comeback and fell 80-75.
 
Wesleyan out-scored UMass Dartmouth in the paint, 44-26. The Corsairs won the rebound battle, and out-shot the Cardinals from beyond the arc, converting on 42.3% of their attempts to Wesleyan's 29.2%.   

UMass Dartmouth will return to action at 7pm on Wednesday when the Corsairs travel to Eastern Connecticut (7-11, 4-5 LEC) in Little East Conference action. 

Original source can be found here