WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team took a ten-point lead into the final six minutes of regulation but needed a buzzer-beating three-point field goal in overtime by sophomore forward Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) to pull out a 78-76 Little East Conference victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Wednesday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Trailing by ten, UMass Dartmouth (5-13, 2-7 LEC) outscored Eastern 14-4 over the final six minutes of regulation and forced overtime when junior guard John Marcille sank two free throws with 29.3 seconds left in regulation before the Warriors failed to get a shot off on their final possession of the game.
In overtime, Sanchez sank his first three-point field goal of the game to give Eastern a 75-72 lead with 2:11 left but Eastern (12-6, 4-6 LEC) missed three shots and turned the ball over twice on its next five possessions while the taller Corsairs scored twice inside, the second one coming by 6-foot-8 inch junior center Ryan Flauto off a bounce pass that give the visitors a 76-75 lead with six seconds left.
With time running out, Sanchez inbounded to sophomore guard Esco Greene (New Britain), who dribbled into the front court with Sanchez on his left and, in danger of losing possession, flipped a short pass to Sanchez in front of the Eastern bench, and the 6-foot-4 inch swished the game-winning shot over a UMass defender from several steps beyond the three-point line as time expired for the 14th and final lead change of the game.
The victory gives Eastern its second two-point win over UMD this year and a series sweep of the Corsairs for the first time since 2015-16. It marked the first time since 1979-80 that both games in the season series between the teams had been decided by two or less points
After managing only four points (1-of-7 FG), two rebounds and no assists in the first half, junior guard Dominick Dao (Terryville) finished as one of Eastern's five double-figure scores with a game-high 19 points (6-of-18 FG), three assists, three rebounds and two steals. Sanchez scored ten of his 12 points after the break and finished with a game-high ten rebounds. Greene, sophomore guard Cedrick Similien (Norwich) and 6-foot-7 inch junior forward Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) all finished with 14 points for Eastern. Greene made all six of his field goal attempts and both of his free throws, with his fourth and final assist of the game setting up Sanchez for the game-winner.
After scoring two points in four first-half minutes, Flauto finished with 15 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes as one of UMD's four double-figure scorers. Scoreless in nine first-half minutes, junior guard Josh Lopes finished with a team-high 16 points in 34 minutes, while season scoring leader Isaac Percy, a 6-foot-3 graduate had 13 points and eight rebounds and freshman guard Camden DiChiara totalled ten points.
With his team down by ten points in the final stages of regulation, DiChiara helped the Corsairs force overtime with a free throw and a three-point field goal that sliced Eastern's six-point lead to three with 76 seconds left. Percy's inside bucket and subsequent free throw with a minute left made it a two-point game, and Marcille's (team-high nine rebounds) two free throws with 29.3 seconds left in regulation forced overtime.
The victory snaps a two-game losing streak for Eastern while the Corsairs lost for the third straight time (second straight in overtime) and dropped to 3-7 away from the Tripp Athletic Center.
Eastern shares fourth place in the conference with the University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Southern Maine while UMass drops into a two-way tie for eighth place in the nine-team conference.