DARTMOUTH, Mass. – A late push midway through the second half, fell just short as the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth pulled out a 85-75 Little East Conference win over men's basketball Tuesday evening at the Tripp Athletic Center.

With the loss, the Beacons dropped their third straight contest as they fell to 9-7 overall, 1-5 in the Little East Conference.  UMass Dartmouth improved to 8-8, 4-2 in the conference as they remain tied for fourth with Western Connecticut State University.

Junior Omar Benabicha (Saugus, Mass.), who recorded 15 points in the second half, gave the Beacons their first and only lead in the second half on a huge lay-up to make it 61-59 at the time.  However, the Corsairs would pull-off a quick 5-0 run to regain control of the scoreboard, which they would never lose again for the remainder of the contest.

Benabicha continued his hot shooting as he cut the deficit to two, but the junior could not push the Beacons over the hump for the second time.  On the night, Benabicha finished with a career-best 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting, which included five 3-pointers, and a 4-for-4 showing at the charity stripe.  He would also post six assists, and grabbed four rebounds in the conference loss.

Kevin Louis-Jean (Hyde Park, Mass.), was the only other Beacon to finish in double-figures, as the sophomore dropped in 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.  Senor Carl Joseph (Brockton, Mass.), led UMass on the glass with seven boards.

For the Corsairs, who were missing the conference's leading scorer Jordan Rezendes (21.2 points per game), saw all five starting players finish in double-figures.  Jake Laga led his team with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 6-for-7 at the line.  Jon Robinson and John Genkos each finished tied for 16 points to help carry their team to the conference win.

On the night UMass Dartmouth led the contest shooting 49.2% from the floor, while the Beacons finished shooting 42.2%.  From behind the arc both teams shot over 41%, while at the line, UMass Dartmouth went 21-for-22, while the Beacons finished 14-for-18. 

UMass Boston led the contest on the boards with 37, while the Corsairs finished with 36. 

The Beacons return to action on Thursday when they travel to Tufts University for a 7 p.m. non-conference game.