News Release

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA — 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 per cent of their shots from the field in taking a 36-27 halftime lead. The Judges, who made 50 per cent of their shots in the first half, were held to 42.4 per cent 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; three-pointer with 5:34 remaining.

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

”I was very pleased with our effort tonight,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste. “We did what we had to do to win. We had some concerns when they put on their press and cut the lead, but we came back and then we made our free throws. Devon and A.J. made some big threes, Dan was a force underneath, andStephane Abelard did a great job defensively on Steve DeLuca.”

Holbrook led the Corsairs with 21 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Paul Pawlowski (Taunton, MA/Taunton HS added 13, Maiorano and Tavares had 12 points apiece, 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. The Corsairs will return to action when they host Keene State Saturday in the second game of a Little East Conference doubleheader. Game time is 3:00 p.m. following the women’s game at 1:00 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Brandeis vs UMASS DARTMOUTH
12/08/05 7:00 P.M. at TRIPP ATHLETIC CENTER
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VISITORS: Brandeis 4-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 DeLuca, Steve....... f  6-12   0-0    2-2    1  5  6   2  14  4  4  0  1  38
05 Coppens, Joe........ f  3-10   2-5    3-4    0  2  2   5  11  2  1  0  2  34
34 Saucier, John....... c  2-3    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   4  0  1  0  0  14
10 Rexhepi, Florian.... g  5-12   2-3    0-0    2  0  2   1  12  6  2  0  1  35
11 Graves-Fulgham, K... g  3-7    1-2    2-2    2  0  2   1   9  4  3  0  2  36
03 Conti, Huston.......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  2  2  0  1   5
24 Toppi, Rocco........    3-5    3-5    0-0    0  0  0   2   9  0  0  0  1  14
30 Olson, Kevin........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  2  0  0  0   5
33 Mael, David.........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
35 Hill, Steven........    2-3    0-0    3-3    1  2  3   2   7  0  0  1  3  18
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   25-55   9-17  10-11   7 11 18  14  69 20 13  1 11 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-22 50.0%   2nd Half: 14-33 42.4%   Game: 45.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half:  6-11 54.5%   Game: 52.9%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half:  8-8  100 %   Game: 90.9%    1

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HOME TEAM: UMASS DARTMOUTH 4-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
21 Paul Pawlowski...... f  4-8    1-2    4-4    0  5  5   3  13  6  6  0  1  37
32 Stephane Abelard.... f  4-7    2-4    0-0    4  3  7   1  10  4  0  1  2  35
34 Dan Holbrook........ c  9-12   0-0    3-4    3  5  8   3  21  3  3  1  0  33
14 Reece Freeman....... g  1-2    1-1    0-0    0  5  5   2   3  4  4  0  4  27
24 Devon Maiorano...... g  3-6    2-5    4-4    0  2  2   0  12  5  1  0  0  24
15 Darryl Goodridge....    0-2    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  2  0  0  1  13
22 A.J. Tavares........    5-10   2-6    0-0    1  0  1   0  12  1  2  0  1  16
30 Chris Frazier.......    2-2    1-1    2-2    0  0  0   2   7  0  2  0  0   8
31 Charlie Large.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  1  2  0  1   7
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   28-50   9-20  13-14  11 23 34  13  78 26 20  2 10 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0%   2nd Half: 14-25 56.0%   Game: 56.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-9  44.4%   2nd Half:  5-11 45.5%   Game: 45.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-4  100 %   2nd Half:  9-10 90.0%   Game: 92.9%    1

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Officials: DOUGLAS HOPPER, JOHN VENTURA AND JOHN LUNNEY
Technical fouls: Brandeis-None. UMASS DARTMOUTH-None.
Attendance: 650
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Brandeis......................   27   42  -   69
UMASS DARTMOUTH...............   36   42  -   78