South County Times

Fourth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University and sixth-seeded UMass Dartmouth were victorious in the First Round of the 2023 Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Tuesday night, sending them to Thursday's semifinals.
 
No. 6 UMass Dartmouth 77, No. 3 Southern Maine 75
 
Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer poured in a game-high 28 points to lead the Corsairs to the upset victory over the Huskies, going 9-of-15 from the field, 5-of-8 from three and 5-of-7 at the charity stripe. Isaac Percy added 15 points with nine boards, while John Martins, Jr. netted 14 points and grabbed five rebounds.
 
Cody Hawes had a huge game of his own, scoring 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the floor while draining a pair of threes and going 3-fo-4 at the line. He also pulled down seven rebounds and notched four steals. Mark Asare, Diego Colon and Chance Dixon finished with 10 points each.
 
UMass Dartmouth led for the majority of the game, opening the contest with an 11-4 run and later closing the period with an 11-2 burst to take a 42-27 at halftime. A 10-2 run to open the second half gave the Corsairs a 52-29 lead 3:33 in into the frame, and they led by 19 at 59-40 with 12 minutes to go in the game, and held on for the win.
 
USM came storming back, pulling back within one at 72-71 on Dixon's layup with 1:52 to go in the game. The two teams traded baskets after that, and Percy drained a pair of free throws with seven seconds to go to seal the win for UMass Dartmouth.
 
No. 4 Eastern Connecticut 62, No. 5 UMass Boston 58
 
Jalen Williams led three Warriors who scored in double-figures with 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Dominick Dao finished with 11 points, eight boards and three assists, while Tyreice Woods scored 10 points with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
Xavier Mckenzie led all scorers with 15 points for the Beacons, while Malik Lorquet posted a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Emmanuel Zayas chipped in with nine points, six rebounds and five assists.
 
UMass Boston looked as though it may run away with this one early in the second half, taking a 33-29 lead at the break and outscoring Eastern Connecticut 15-7 over the opening 6:23 of the second to open a 48-36 lead.
 
The game was far from over though, as the Warriors chipped away at their deficit before taking the lead for good on a pair of Williams free throws that made it 59-58 with 58 seconds remaining on the clock. The Beacons were held scoreless over the final 2:09 of the game. 

Original source can be found here.