With the win the Corsairs improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the Little East. Suffering their third consecutive loss the Huskies dip to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the LEC.
Tavares was 4-for-9 from three-point range with five steals for the Corsairs, while Holbrook was a force in the paint for UMass Dartmouth shooting 7-for-14 from the floor while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds to go along with three assists and four steals. Sophomore guard Reece Freeman (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) and senior forward Stephane Abelard (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) added 11 points each while senior guard Paul Pawlowski (Taunton, Mass./Taunton) chipped in with 10 points.
Junior center Nick Gooding (Concord, Calif./Mount Diablo) continued to provide the Huskies with strong play in the post tossing in 21 points and grabbing 14 rebounds – both game and career-high totals – to lead Southern Maine off of the bench. Freshman forward Greg Whitaker (Presque Isle, Maine/Presque Isle) and junior guard Josh Daniels (Everett, Wash./Maine Central Institute) each scored 13 points while junior forward Drew Coppenrath (Barnet, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Southern Maine held an 11-point lead late in the first half, 29-18, with 4:52 to play, but the Corsairs were able to whittle the Husky advantage to three with a 12-4 run heading into the halftime break. USM’s Whitaker scored nine of his 13 points in the first half, while sophomore guard Charlie O’Neill (Seymour, Conn./Wilbraham & Monson) netted six of his eight points. Pawlowski and Abelard each scored three points in the Corsairs half ending run.
In the second half, both teams battled through 13 lead changes and eight ties before heading into overtime with the score tied at 62. UMass Dartmouth led 62-60 following a three-pointer from Tavares with 52 seconds left in regulation, but Coppenrath was able to knot the score up calmly sinking a pair of free throws with 29 seconds on the clock after a rebounding foul. The Corsairs missed twice on a potential game-winning basket in final seconds to send the game into overtime.
In the overtime period, Tavares knocked down a three on the Corsairs first possession and Holbrook powered his way in for a lay-up to quickly spot his team a five-point lead, 67-62, with 4:09 to play. Conversely, the Huskies were unable to convert from the free throw line making just 4-of-8 from the charity stripe in the extra stanza.
Southern Maine shot a solid 43.9 percent (25-for-58) from the field and held a 43-32 advantage in rebounds, but was hampered by 23 turnovers. UMass Dartmouth finished with a 42.9 percent (30-for-4) effort from the field, including a 6-for-7 mark in overtime.
Southern Maine returns to action on Wednesday (December 6) at Colby College for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference game. UMass Dartmouth hosts Roger Williams on Thursday (December 7) at 7 p.m.