News Release

PLYMOUTH, NH — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team saw their comeback bid fall just short as they dropped a 59-58 decision to Little East Conference rival Plymouth State in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Foley Gym.

The Corsairs, who trailed for final 36 minutes of the game, rallied from a 13-point deficit four minutes into the second half to trail by five, 59-54, after a three-pointer by the Panthers’ Phil Bourassa with 2:49 remaining.

Junior forward Paul Pawlowski stole a pass and connected for a lay-up to make it 59-58 with 1:58 remaining. Freshman guard Reece Freeman fouled PSU’s Mike Sullivan, who missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 53 seconds left. Junior center Dan Holbrook then hit a lay-up that made it 59058.

PSU worked the clock, but junior guard Devon Maiorano stole a pass and the Corsairs called time out with five seconds left. “We had three options,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste. “We got the ball in to Reese, and they gave him the lane, so went in and shot a lay-up. It went in, then it bounced out as the horn sounded.”

Plymouth State jumped out quickly, outscoring the Corsairs, 15-6 at the start of the game and stretching their lead to 39-25 with 1:23 left in the first half before Holbrook’s lay-up allowed UMD to cut the gap to a dozen points at halftime.

The Panthers built a 44-29 advantage with 16:23 remaining, but a lay-up and jumper by Holbrook, Maiorano’s lay-up and a lay-up and three-pointer by junior forward Stephane Abelard keyed an 11-0 run that brought the Corsairs to within four at 44-40 with 11:50 to play.

“We just didn’t play well overall,” said Baptiste. “We really didn’t deserve to win.”

Abelard had 17 points, while Holbrook added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Kevin Boutillier had 17 points for PSU; Mike Walcek added 13 and Bourassa had 10. UMD out rebounded the Panthers, 40-28, but PSU made seven of 13 three-point shots to the Corsairs’ one for nine.

UMass Dartmouth fell to 7-5, 1-2 in LEC play with the defeat, while Plymouth State improved to 9-2 and 2-1. The Corsairs will return to action when they host Eastern Connecticut State in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
UMass Dartmouth vs Plymouth State
1/7/06 3:00 PM at Plymouth State University
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VISITORS: UMass Dartmouth (7-5, LEC 1-2)
                          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  4-6    0-1    0-0    1  3  4   3   8  1  3  3  1  31
32 Stephane Abelard.... f  8-14   1-3    0-0    1  3  4   1  17  2  1  0  1  31
34 Dan Holbrook........ c  6-11   0-0    2-2    5  8 13   3  14  1  3  0  1  25
14 Reece Freeman....... g  2-10   0-0    0-4    3  2  5   2   4  2  1  0  2  31
24 Devon Maiorano...... g  2-7    0-3    2-2    1  2  3   0   6  0  5  0  1  26
15 Darryl Goodridge....    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   2   1  0  2  0  0   9
30 Chris Frazier.......    0-2    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   0   0  0  0  0  1  18
31 Charlie Large.......    2-3    0-0    2-2    0  1  1   2   6  0  0  0  0  12
33 Julian Tynes........    1-4    0-2    0-0    0  2  2   0   2  1  1  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         3  2  5
   Totals..............   25-57   1-9    7-12  15 25 40  13  58  7 16  3  7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8%   2nd Half: 14-34 41.2%   Game: 43.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-6   0.0%   2nd Half:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 11.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-10 50.0%   2nd Half:  2-2  100 %   Game: 58.3%    3

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HOME TEAM: Plymouth State (9-2, LEC 2-1)
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
23 Charles Gaddy....... f  1-4    0-0    0-0    1  3  4   0   2  1  1  0  0  19
42 Mike Walcek......... f  4-12   2-5    3-4    2  2  4   1  13  3  1  0  0  36
35 Kevin Boutilier..... c  7-15   0-0    3-3    0  6  6   1  17  1  0  1  3  32
01 Mark Dunham......... g  2-10   1-2    0-0    2  3  5   2   5  0  2  0  3  23
10 Mike Sullivan....... g  1-2    1-1    0-1    0  1  1   3   3  0  3  0  1  24
13 Phil Bourassa.......    4-6    2-2    0-0    1  1  2   0  10  3  3  0  0  19
14 Brandon Boggs.......    1-2    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  1  1  0  0  11
24 Tim Russell.........    2-4    1-2    0-0    1  1  2   3   5  1  1  0  2  26
30 Chris Wilkinson.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  0  0  0   7
34 Devin Ruocco........    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         3     3
   Totals..............   23-57   7-13   6-8   10 18 28  12  59 11 12  1  9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-33 45.5%   2nd Half:  8-24 33.3%   Game: 40.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-8  62.5%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 53.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-5  80.0%   2nd Half:  2-3  66.7%   Game: 75.0%   1,1

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Officials: Bob Mullins, Gerry Desrochers, Mike Smith
Technical fouls: UMass Dartmouth-None. Plymouth State-None.
Attendance: 225
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
UMass Dartmouth...............   27   31  -   58
Plymouth State................   39   20  -   59