News Release

NO. DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Junior center Charlie Large came off the bench to score all six of his points in a critical one-minute span that helped the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men’s basketball team hand Eastern Connecticut State University its sixth straight Little East Conference loss,, 83-74 Saturday afternoon at the Tripp Athletic Center.

Eastern (6j-14, 2-9 little east) wiped out an eight-point first-half deficit and led by a point five minutes into the second half before UMass (10-13, 4-8 little east) outscored the Warriors 9-2 over a two-minute stretch to take the lead for good, 51-45. Large scored all six of his points on inside baskets in a one-minute span during that 9-2 run to help his team break a five-game losing streak.

The Corsairs shot 56.3 per cent in the second half – the majority of their field goals coming in the paint – and kept the upper hand by sinking 14 of 17 free throws.

The Warriors trailed by as many as eight points in the first half but countered with a run of eight straight points to turn a five-point deficit into a three-point, 32-29 lead two minutes before the end of the half. On its final eight possessions of the first half, UMass missed five field goals and three free throws, getting its only two points of the final four minutes on free throws with 33 seconds left in the first half.

Senior forward Chris Lapriore and senior guard Matt McAuliffe combined for half of UMass’ points, hitting 17 of 27 field goals and seven of ten free throws. . Lapriore had game-highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds. McAuliffe had 18 points, connecting on three of his team’s five three-pointers. UMass senior guard Josh Adamec handed out seven assists.

Eastern got a total of three points from two starters in losing for the sixth time in the last seven games and for the sixth straight time in conference play. Sophomore guard Matt Albon led four Eastern double-figure scorers with a season-high 22 points. He was 9-for-16 from the floor with four three-pointers in six tries. Junior guard Michael Stallings had 13 points (j6-for-6 from the stripe) and sophomore forward Leon Martin and senior forward Jeroy Smith each had 12 points and nine rebounds.

The nine-point verdict follows a stretch of four straight games between the two teams which had been decided by a total of five points. In a 68-67 win over UMass a month ago at Geissler Gym, Eastern survived a late Corsair comeback when Smith scored the game-winning field goal from under the basket with two seconds left. It was Eastern’s third win in four games against UMass.

With the loss, Eastern is assured of one of the bottom four seeds and a first-round road game in the conference tournament, which gets underway Tuesday, Feb. 22 with first-round games.

Eastern hosts the University of Southern Maine Sunday at 3 p.m. in a Little East Conference makeup game.