Men's basketball falls at UMass-Dartmouth, 78-69

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA (taken from a UMass-Dartmouth press release) – The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth's men's basketball team built a nine-point halftime lead and went on to a 78-69 victory over Brandeis at the Tripp Athletic Center Thursday evening.

The Corsairs made 56 percent of their shots from the field in taking a 36-27 halftime lead. The Judges, who made 50 percent of their shots in the first half, were held to 42.4 percent from the field in the second half.

UMD used a 7-0 run midway through the second half to build their lead to 14 points, 54-40 with 10:45 remaining. Brandeis fought back, chipping away at the lead and cutting it to three points, 56-53 on Joe Coppens's (Rocland, Mass.) three-pointer with 5:34 remaining.

But sophomore guard A.J. Tavares (New Bedford, Mass.) hit a three-pointer and a jumper, junior center Dan Holbrook (Lexington, Mass.) added a pair of free throws, and junior guard Devon Maiorano (Rehoboth, Mass.) connected from three-point range to give the Corsairs a 66-58 advantage with 3:09 to play. Huston Conti's (Edmonds, Wash.) three-pointer with 30 seconds left cut UMD’s lead to five, but the Judges could get no closer.

Holbrook led the Corsairs with 21 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Paul Pawlowski (Taunton, Mass.) added 13, Maiorano and Tavares had 12 points each, and Abelard contributed 10.

DeLuca led Brandeis with 14 points, Florian Rexhepi added 12 and Joe Coppens had 11. The Corsairs out rebounded the Judges, 34-18.

UMass Dartmouth improved to 4-3 with the victory, while Brandeis fell to 4-3.