DARTMOUTH, Mass. - UMass Boston Men's Basketball was in a deadlock with UMass Dartmouth at the half, tied at 39 all, but could not overcome the Corsairs in the second as they lost by a final score of 88-72 on Wednesday night. They are now tied with the University of Southern Maine for third place in the Little East Conference.
 
THE BASICS
 
UMass Boston 72, UMass Dartmouth 88
 
UMass Boston (13-7, 6-5 LEC)
UMass Dartmouth (6-14, 5-6 LEC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
UMass Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead to start the game on Wednesday night. The Beacons' first five points came from a familiar face in leading scorer senior forward Malik Lorquet. A layup and a three-point play cut the Corsairs' lead to two.
 
Lorquet finished the game with 22 points and 10 rebounds, his 16th double-double of the season. Wednesday night also marked his 10th 20-point game of the season.
 
With 7:40 left to play in the half, sophomore guard Emanuel Zayas nailed a three-pointer to cut the UMass Dartmouth lead to 23-20. Zayas posted five points in the first half and another seven in the second half for his 12th double-digit scoring effort of the season. 
 
After his breakout game a week ago, freshman forward Connor Walden continued to prove why he is seeing minutes off the bench. With 3:29 to play until half, he cut the UMass Boston deficit to one with a mid range jumper. His next bucket, a three-pointer, gave the Beacons their first lead of the game, 35-33. 
 
In the second half, the Corsairs built a quick lead and kept the Beacons at arms length, winning comfortably by a final score of 88-72.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Malik Lorquet's double-double was his 16th of the season, moving him into a tie for third most in all of NCAA DIII with fellow LEC big man Jeff Hunter
• The first half of Wednesday's game saw five lead changes
•  The Beacons made 16 of their 18 free throw attempts, matching their best performance of the season from the charity stripe (Jan. 4 at Castleton)
• With 10 more rebounds, Malik Lorquet now has 771 rebounds in his career, 17 away from tying the all-time record set by Terry Kennedy 
• UMass Boston has now lost three consecutive games for the first time this season 

 
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will return to Clark Athletic Center Gym on Saturday, February 4 for a 3 PM tip-off with the visiting Plymouth State. They will hope for a repeat performance of their 92-73 victory at Plymouth State on January 7 as they seek to take sole possession of the third seed in the LEC.