North Dartmouth, Mass.—Rhode Island College suffered a 73-68 loss to UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference men's basketball action played at the Tripp Athletic Center on Tuesday evening.
 
The loss drops the Anchormen to 16-5 overall and 7-4 (fourth place) in the Little East Conference. The four league setbacks are the most in a season since the club dropped five (9-5) in 2005-06. The Corsairs improve to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in the LEC.
 
Senior center Mike Akinrola (Woonsocket, RI) and sophomore guard Avery King (Pawtucket, RI) led the way for the visitors with 15 points apiece. Sophomore guard Mike Palumbo (Providence, RI) scored a career-high 13, while junior guard Tahrike Carter (Brooklyn, NY) contributed 11 points and a game-high seven assists.
 
In a closely contested battle between these two conference rivals, RIC found itself down by one at the half, 29-28.
 
Two free throws by King at 13:58 gave the Anchormen a 41-40 lead and he later sank a t
three to stake RIC to a 44-42 advantage 44 seconds later. An Akinrola layup opened a five-point, 50-45, lead for the visitors with just over 10 minutes remaining, but the hosts embarked on a 16-2 run to post a 61-52 lead at 6:23.
 
UMD was able to build an 11-point lead and RIC would get no closer than the final margin of four points the rest of the way.
 
RIC shot 46 percent (25-for-54) from the field, knocked down 6-of-15 (40 percent) from downtown and converted 12-of-16 free throw attempts. UMD held a 31-29 advantage on the glass, while shooting 47 percent (23-for-49) from the field and the same (7-for-15) from downtown. Both teams turned the ball over 24 times.
 
Senior center Lance Greene (Dorchester, MA) posted a double-double with game-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Corsairs.
 
In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will host Bates on Thursday, Feb. 9 (7 p.m.) before continuing Little East Conference play at Southern Maine on Saturday, Feb. 11 (3 p.m.).