UMD Basketblog

Men's Basketball vs. Worcester State 12/8

2009-12-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

MEN'S BASKETBALL AT WORCESTER STATE

7 PM TIP

LISTEN LIVE!

The Corsairs continue their road stretch to end the semester tonight at Worcester State. Good news came this afternoon: the Corsairs are up to #10 in the d3hoops.com Top 25 poll. We're back in Worcester tonight for the first time since March 6-7, when the Corsairs completed their memorable run to the Sweet Sixteen by defeating Baruch and WPI to win the Worcester regional. Busing through town tonight certainly brought back some good memories.

But we're not at WPI tonight, and this is not a big game -- far from it. Tonight we're at Worcester State's Lancer Gym, which is most likely the smallest venue the Corsairs will play in all year. This place maybe seats 300. It's a non-conference game during the last week of classes against a team these seniors have beaten handily all three years. Could the Corsairs look past this one? Unlikely, but all the key trap ingredients are in place.

Worcester State comes into tonight's game with a 3-2 overall record. The Lancers are coming off a 2-0 week with wins of 69-64 over Clark here on Thursday night and a 69-62 win at Regis on Saturday. They feature a premier offensive player in Maurice Horton, who is averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. But that's about it; nobody else averages in double figures.

The Corsairs are riding high after knocking Bridgewater State out of the Top 25 with an 81-62 win on Wednesday night and picking up a 67-63 conference win at Plymouth on Saturday. UMD is now 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Little East Conference.

In recent meetings between these two teams, it's been all Corsairs. The Corsairs won 85-74 last November 22nd at the Tripp, led by 19 points from Brandon Shelton and 14 each from Jeff Macchi and Matt Walker. In 2007, the Corsairs won here by a 78-65 score with Macchi tossing in 13 points while Walker scored nine and Brandon Stephens had 7. The Corsairs also won 90-64 at the Tripp back in 2006, a game in which Walker and Macchi saw action.

It's just about gametime here at Lancer Gym. Enjoy it!

Doubleheader at Plymouth, 12/5

2009-12-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AT PLYMOUTH STATE

1 PM Tip

LISTEN LIVE!

MEN'S BASKETBALL AT PLYMOUTH STATE

Approx. 3 PM Tip

LISTEN LIVE!

At long last, conference play!

This post comes to you from Plymouth, New Hampshire where the Corsairs are making their annual stop to kickoff the 2009-10 conference slate. We're accustomed to seeing banks of snow everywhere when we come up here, but it's a beautiful, clear day up here today.

On the women's side, the Corsairs stand at 2-4, coming off back-to-back heartbreakers earlier this week. The Corsairs fell at Bridgewater 60-57 on Tuesday night and then lost 61-57 at home to Salve Regina Thursday night in a very similar game. The Panthers, on the other hand, are on a roll. Plymouth State comes in with a perfect 6-0 record. This week, they've notched a 77-60 Tuesday night victory at Colby-Sawyer and a Thursday night 80-64 win at home over Salem State. Plymouth also took a 72-51 opening night victory over Johnson and Wales, who the Corsairs will play on Thursday night.

Although PSU swept the season series with UMD last year, these two games were among the most competitive games the Corsairs turned in during a winless season in conference. Back on February 21 of this year, the Corsairs had a lead as large as 13 in the second half before squandering it due to fatigue -- the Corsairs had only six uniformed players for that game. Tashauna Ashmeade hit a three pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, but the Corsairs ran out of gas....and players. Two Corsairs fouled out in overtime, leaving them to finish the 68-59 loss with only four players on the floor. On January 17, the Corsairs lost 81-73, although they were in the game until the final minute. In that game, now-graduated Vicki Andruskiewicz poured in 25 points, a season high.

Tipoff coming in about 20 minutes here from Plymouth. I'll be back with some men's info between games.

Women's Hoops vs. Salve Regina, 12/3

2009-12-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

Came straight from class to get here for the game tonight, so my preview is in chicken scratches in my Tech Writing notebook. (Don't tell my professor!)

Here's tonight's live blog. Thanks to the good folks at Halls Cough Drops for making these nightly broadcasts possible.

Women's Basketball vs. Salve Regina

Men's Basketball vs. Bridgewater State, 12/2

2009-12-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

MEN'S BASKETBALL vs. #19 BRIDGEWATER STATE BEARS

7 PM, TRIPP ATHLETIC CENTER

LISTEN LIVE!

Tonight, things start to get serious.

The #19 ranked Bridgewater State Bears make the short trip down Route 24 to take on UMass Dartmouth in what promises to be one of the most entertaining games of the 2009-10 season. The Bears' resume is a headscratcher at this point in the young season. They defeated Rhode Island College 95-92 last Tuesday, but the rest of their slate has been far less impressive. BSC had to overcome a 20 point first half deficit in order to defeat Western New England 86-83 on opening night.

The Bears also split an opening weekend effort at the SUNY-New Paltz Tip-off Tournament, defeating Lehman (the only one of the Brothers still in business?!) 68-56 and then dropping the championship by a 78-71 margin to St. Joseph's of Long Island.

The Corsairs haven't played in over a week, but their last victory was a big 92-82 win over Brandeis, who is ranked #23 in this week's d3hoops.com Top 25 poll. Brian Baptiste and company are hoping a win tonight, paired with the Brandeis win, will go a long way toward cancelling out the tough loss to University of New England in the Hampton Inn Classic.

Short post tonight, as I had to run over here from class. Yes, the grad assistant goes to class! Does this make me an NCAA student-broadcaster?

Enjoy the game tonight, folks.

Women's Basketball at Bridgewater, 12/1

2009-12-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AT BRIDGEWATER STATE

6 PM, Adrian Tinsley Center, Bridgewater State College

Listen LIVE!

Welcome back, everybody! The Thanksgiving break was certainly restorative for yours truly, and hopefully the same can be said for the women's basketball team.

After the big wins in the Hampton Inn Classic, the Corsairs came out flat last Tuesday night in a 51-37 loss at Worcester State. Lynley DeAmato was noticably missing from that game, and the Corsair offense suffered. Although Kaylin Nelson put forward a strong effort, scoring 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, the rest of the squad mustered only 14 total points on a horrid 8-for-39 shooting.

The Corsairs sit precisely where they were at this time last year: at 2-2 after losses sandwiched around the Hampton Inn Classic wins. Last December 2nd, the Corsairs dropped a 55-52 heartbreaker at home to these same Bears. From there, the Corsairs never really recovered, losing player after player and game after game, limping to a 3-23 finish. Although tonight's game is unlikely to repeat itself as such a pronounced crossroad, you can bet that Amanda Van Voorhis and Rob Johnson want this game tonight pretty badly.

The Bears come into tonight's game with an overall record of 1-2. Bridgewater opened up with an 82-57 win over Eastern Nazarene before dropping a 77-68 decision to William Patterson and a 77-56 loss at the hands of Rhode Island college last Tuesday.

Here are the main weapons for the Bears:

Monica Bharoocha - 13.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Shelly DePina - 11.3 PPG, 7.7 PPG
Brittney Chappron - 11.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Michaela Crosby - 9.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG
Corey Cuddihy - 8.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG

New Bedford's own DePina is the reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Year. Both her and teammate Stephanie Houtman played with Kaylin Nelson at New Bedford High School.

Ah, The Dreaded Double Event

2009-11-24T13:45:00.001-08:00

Broadcasts for both of tonight's games can be found at CorsairAthletics.com. I will call the men's game from the friendly confines of the radio coop at the Tripp Athletic Center, while the good folks at Penn Atlantic will handle the coverage of women's hoops.

What's a Corsair fan to do tonight? Both the men and women are in action at 7 PM tonight. The question you have to ask yourself is: are you a big enough fan to watch the women on mute while listening to the men? Kudos to you if you are!

The #8 ranked men take on #22 ranked Brandeis in the first of two consecutive games against ranked opponents for UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs are still stinging from an upset loss to the University of New England on Friday night followed by a pedestrian six point victory against a struggling Springfield on Saturday.

The Judges are always a formidable foe, with six consecutive winning seasons under the leadership of Head Coach Brian Meehan. So far, the Judges are 2-0, picking up a 90-79 win over Lasell last Tuesday and pasting Emerson 69-52 on Saturday.

Recent history favors the Corsairs, who have won two of the last three matchups. The Corsairs pulled out a hard-fought 68-62 victory on the Red Auerbach Court in Waltham last season. For my money, this golden age of Corsair men's basketball began when UMD upset then #2 ranked Brandeis 71-64 in overtime at the Tripp in 2007, which helped catapult the Corsairs up to #2 themselves several weeks later. From then on, the expectations here have been much higher. Corsair elders Matt Walker, Jeff Macchi, and V.J. Divine will remember letting a competitive game get away from them back in 2006, when Brandeis beat the Corsairs in Waltham by a 62-47 margin. Prior to that, it had been 30 seasons since the Judges had last topped the Corsairs. Amazingly, as I reflect on it, that 2006 game is the only one in this series that I have called. Let's hope I'm not bad luck!

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On the women's side, the Corsairs head out to Worcester to take on the Worcester State Lancers at 7 PM.

Each team is coming off a weekend tournament victory that has them excited about the road ahead. The Corsairs (2-1) came up with wins over Green Mountain on Friday and Connecticut College on Saturday to win the 2009 Hampton Inn Classic. The Lancers (2-1) won the 2009 Worcester City Tournament with a victory over Becker on Friday and a championship win over Nichols on Saturday. The Lancers dropped their opener to Springfield last week.

Where I'm not calling this game, this is an abbreviated preview. But don't construe this to mean I'm ignoring the game -- I wish I could be in both places. Please, please, please keep me updated on what's going on up there in tonight's live blog.

Enjoy the games, everybody!

Congrats, Ladies!

2009-11-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

I'm having some difficulties uploading videos/sound bytes with my fantastic new Droid, so there's interviews with a triumphant coach Amanda Van Voorhis and MVP Kaylin Nelson waiting in Internet Purgatory. I'll get those up as soon as I get some time to tinker with things and learn how to move them around.

But I want to take this opportunity to recognize the accomplishment of the Corsair women's team this past weekend, taking the Hampton Inn Classic championship after defeating a rather formidable foe in Connecticut College, 56-54, after rolling past Green Mountain College the night before.

Although it's true that the Corsairs won the same tournament last season, I think its significance is far greater this year. This is a team comprised of prodominatly rookie college basketball players, and they just won a tournament together. Not only that, but they won a close game -- something this program has had a poor track record with for several years. The same can be said for beating decent competition.

Last year, the Corsairs were in the same spot at 2-1 after grabbing the Hampton Inn hardware. Anyone taking the time to read this knows that they lost all but one game the rest of the way en route to a 3-23 finish. Could that happen again? I suppose, but you certainly don't get that impression by looking at this year's squad. There's a tangible enthusiasm to what they are doing, and Coach Van Voorhis has a clear direction in mind for the program. We could look back on last weekend as a watershed moment for the Corsairs. The real journey for them begins tonight against Worcester State.

Women Win Big, Advance

2009-11-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

No broadcasting for me today, but an awful lot of writing. Congrats to the women on their first win in a while. I had the official story for the game, which will appear later on CorsairAthletics.com. Here's what I wrote (unedited).

There will be plenty more women's basketball coverage here in the future -- promise.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL DEFEATS GREEN MOUNTAIN IN HAMPTON INN CLASSIC

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s women’s basketball team forced 34 turnovers and held visiting Green Mountain to just 39 points en route to a 65-39 victory in the second game of the 2009 Hampton Inn Classic at the Tripp Athletic Center Saturday night.

Since its inception in 2008, the Hampton Inn Classic has been very good to the Corsairs. Although UMass Dartmouth came into Saturday having lost 23 of its last 24 games stretching back to last season, they remain unbeaten in Hampton Inn Classic play with an all-time record of 3-0. Saturday’s win was the first for the Corsairs since a 79-40 victory over Pine Manor College at the Tripp Athletic Center on January 15.

Junior guard Lynley DeAmato (Melrose, Mass./Melrose, HS) started the game by draining a three pointer on the very first possession, and the Corsairs held the lead wire to wire. DeAmato reached double figures in scoring for the second consecutive game, tallying 12 points. Despite her junior status, DeAmato is playing her first season of college basketball.

The Corsairs widened their early lead with an 8-0 run which transformed an 18-13 edge with 3:17 remaining in the first half into a 26-13 advantage with 1:46 left. Freshman forward Jessica Howlett (North Quincy, Mass./North Quincy HS) started the run with a three pointer, which senior guard Madison Malloy (Cranston, R.I./Bay View Academy HS) quickly followed with a three of her own. Freshman forward Colleen Moriarty (Canton, Mass./Canton HS) finished off the run with a layup. The Corsairs took a 26-17 lead into halftime.

Moriarty led all scorers with 13 points, and Howlett scored 11. Both players improved their scoring totals off of last Sunday’s loss at Westfield State to open the season. “It was only a matter of time before Colleen got into double digits,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Amanda Van Voorhis. “In her first game, she had 8 points at Westfield. She got more touches on the ball today in the zone. We were able to penetrate the gaps and find our bigs. As a result, she put some down for us. Jess did play some good minutes off the bench, and she’s quite capable of scoring.” Senior forward Kaylin Nelson (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford HS/Salve Regina) also put in 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Green Mountain was led by freshman guard Chelsea Paul’s (Northville, N.Y./Northville HS) double-double comprised of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Emma Brinley Buckley (Lakeville, Conn./Housatonic Valley Regional HS) scored 10 points and claimed seven rebounds of her own, while senior guard Christin Louras (Rutland, Vt.) had nine points. The Eagles outrebounded the Corsairs 44-32.

The Corsairs distributed the ball very effectively, notching 15 assists, including four by junior forward Tashauna Ashmeade (Hyannis, Mass./Barnstable HS), who also had five steals. Overall, nine different players scored points for UMass Dartmouth. “The way that they shared the ball impressed me,” Van Voorhis said. “Everyone’s willing to share. It’s an equal opportunity offense every trip down, and it’s nice to see the scoring come from different players. I think it’s more tough to defend that way.”

The 34 forced turnovers fulfilled stated goals that the team and coaching staff had discussed before the game. “We made some game goals, and one game goal was to commit fewer than 15 turnovers, which we accomplished, but to also force 25 turnovers, so we exceeded our expectations and we were pleased with the pressure we were able to apply,” said Amanda Van Voorhis.

UMass Dartmouth now looks forward to defending its inaugural Women’s Hampton Inn Classic crown on Sunday, but the Corsairs know it will be a tall task against a Connecticut College team that looked very strong in a 74-54 victory over Mount Ida on Saturday. “In scouting the 6 PM game, it’s clear that Conn has a very strong team,” Van Voorhis said. “The Shinall twins are 5’3’’, but they pack a powerful punch. We’ll have to take care of the ball.”
“Last year we won the Hampton Inn,” Van Voorhis recalled. “We’re poised to win again.”

The Corsairs improved to 1-1 with the victory, while the Eagles dropped to 0-1 with the defeat. UMass Dartmouth will play for the championship when they play Connecticut College Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Green Mountain will play for third place when they play Mount Ida Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Corsairs Bounce Back, Beat Springfield 76-70

2009-11-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

The Corsairs looked better today -- still not like the #6 team in the country, but better -- in a 76-70 win over Springfield. I'm on assignment today, writing all of the game stories AP style. My recap of today's win is below. An edited version will appear later today on corsairathletics.com.

Remember, you can watch all of today's games live.

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MEN’S BASKETBALL BOUNCES BACK, BEATS SPRINGFIELD 76-70

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA- After losing a two-point heartbreaker in their own tournament Friday night, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men’s basketball team rebounded nicely on Saturday, defeating visiting Springfield 76-70 in the consolation game of the annual Hampton Inn Classic at the Tripp Athletic Center.

"We were hoping to come out of this tournament with a championship," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste. "But today was our championship at one o'clock."

The Corsairs had to survive a scare in the final two minutes, as Pride senior forward Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow HS) scored with 1:30 to play to draw Springfield to within 72-68. Subsequently, Crean received two opportunities from the free throw line, but missed one attempt each time. The Pride took an offensive rebound off his miss and called timeout trailing by two with 35.3 seconds to play. After the timeout, Springfield turned it over on an errant pass by sophomore point guard Conner Flynn (Marlborough, Mass/Marlborough HS).

The Corsairs then iced the game on four free throws, two by sophomore guard Paul Rose (Boston, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic HS/Mass Bay CC) and two by senior forward Matt Walker (Brockton, Mass./Brockton HS).

Senior guard Tyler Turturo (Shelton, Conn./Shelton HS) gave the Corsairs a big lift off the bench in the second half. With the game tied at 54, Turturo turned a steal into a breakaway layup and followed with a three-pointer on the next Corsair possession to give them a 59-56 advantage with nine minutes to play. A minute later, Turturo hit another trey to make it 64-57.

The Shelton, Conn. native finished the game with 11 points on four of seven shooting. UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste was excited by Turturo's strong performance. "He sparked us," Baptiste said. "Tyler was the guy today. He played with quickness, had a deflection and a steal, and a couple threes. I thought he was a real shot in the arm."

Baptiste continues to preach intensity to a team which carried top ten rankings in all national polls into the opening week. "They've got to come out like junkyard dogs every game and work hard in practices as well as in the game, and that's what I'm trying to tell them," Baptiste said. "The intensity factor is huge."

After missing crucial shots in the final minute of Friday night's loss to the University of New England, seniors Walker and Jeff Macchi (Franklin, Mass./Franklin HS) showed no ill effects. Macchi led the Corsairs in scoring with 16 points along with seven rebounds and six steals. Walker posted 10 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while making all five of his free throws.

Despite fouling out for the second consecutive game, sophomore center Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass/Charlestown HS/UMass Lowell) tallied 15 points along with four rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Fellow Dorchester native and junior forward Brandon Stephens (Newton North HS) also hit double figures with ten points.

The Springfield Pride were led by junior forward Matthew Cavalieri (West Warwick, R.I./West Warwick HS), who put up a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds on 8 of 14 shooting. Crean scored 13 points, while teammates Flynn and freshman guard Colby Verge (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) scored nine points apiece.

The Corsairs struggled from beyond the arc, making only seven of 24 attempts for 29.2 percent. "I always tell the kids I don't want to live and die by the threes," Baptiste said. "I want a little of both: something on the perimeter, and something on the post." While the Corsairs were outrebounded by a 44-34 margin, they were able to make up for it by turning Springfield over 26 times.

Saturday marked senior forward V.J. Divine's (Brookline, Mass./Brookline HS) season debut, playing his first three minutes of the season after offseason knee surgery. Divine's return was much faster than expected. Senior forward Brandon Shelton, also returning from offseason knee surgery, played fifteen minutes in his second game back. "Neither one is game ready, but you've got to get them ready with little spurts at a time," Baptiste said. "Hopefully those spurts can get longer and longer soon."

The Corsairs improved to 2-1 with the victory, while the Pride dropped to 1-3 with the defeat. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Brandeis Tuesday evening. Springfield will host Keene State Tuesday evening.

Hampton Inn Shockers on Friday Night

2009-11-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

"While I hate to get ahead of myself, it looks like a UMD/Springfield final could be one of the best matchups in Hampton Inn Classic history. Remember to listen to tonight's games to see if it happens." - Me, about five hours ago.

Oops.

The Corsairs squandered a 12 point halftime lead, and Springfield was ice cold right from the opening tip. We'll still get the matchup, and it should still be really good, but it will surprisingly come as the 1 PM consolation game.

The Westport Police Department may field a noise disturbance call or two coming from the Hampton Inn tonight, because there are two very fired up teams dwelling there in Wheelock and University of New England, who play each other in the Hampton Inn Classic championship game tomorrow at 3PM.

The Corsairs will remember this game as one that they let get away. Despite leading the entire game to that point, the Corsairs gave the lead away for good when Victor Oruonyehu nailed a three pointer to give the Nor'easters their first lead of the game at 85-83 with 1:12 to play. UMD committed an immediate turnover, giving New England a chance to ice it, which they were never able to do.

The Corsairs got a stop with 37 seconds remaining, and had a great shot at the win. Matt Walker had a brief instant of opportunity, during which he put up a three from the corner in front of his bench, but missed off the front rim. The Corsairs fouled, and their very supportive home crowd was able to get them two misses. With the second chance, Jeff Macchi got fouled and was given the chance to tie from the line. He made the first, but then airballed the second.

The Nor'easters still couldn't put it away, missing the first of two with 6.7 seconds remaining to bump their lead to 86-84. Off the inbound, Macchi found Brandon Shelton free in the backcourt. He sprinted down the sideline, past the three point line, and put up a shot off his back foot from the paint. He missed, Macchi missed a follow-up tip, and Shelton missed a tip on top of that.

Five shots. Four would have tied it, one may have won it. The Corsairs were 0-for-5. Wow.

Wheelock's 61-56 win over Springfield was a brickfest/snoozer right from the start. While certainly a big win for Wheelock, one would have to think that it's no indication of the challenge Springfield figures to pose tomorrow.

Rest up, everyone. There's a huge day of basketball ahead tomorrow. And thanks to Mr. Oruonyehu, it's starting awfully early for Corsair fans.

2009 Men's Hampton Inn Classic Begins Tonight

2009-11-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

Tonight begins the 11th annual Hampton Inn Classic Men's basketball tournament at the Tripp Athletic Center at UMass Dartmouth. Customarily, this tournament serves as the beginning of the Corsair season, but due to NCAA calendar issues, Head Coach Brian Baptiste elected to play a game ahead of the tournament this season. Nevertheless, the Hampton Inn Classic still serves as a ceremonial beginning of basketball season on campus.

All tournament games will be broadcast live. Tonight's will be handled in an audio-only format by myself. Tomorrow's games will be streamed courtesy of our friends at Dartmouth Community Television. Jim Thompson and Rick Jalbert have the call of Saturday's action. Head over to our Corsair Live multimedia page for links to all of this weekend's broadcasts.

The Corsairs will play the second game tonight against the University of New England Nor'easters. UNE (1-1) has been busy this week, with two games already under its belt, a 71-63 loss at St. Joseph's of Maine on Sunday and an 82-70 victory over a Little East Conference member at home versus Southern Maine on Tuesday. In his third season at the helm, Head Coach Jason Mulligan has the program in great shape, having won the school's first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference title and appearing in the NCAA tournament. The Nor'easters went 24-5 last year, which tied a program record for victories in a season.

In tonight's first game, the Springfield College Pride take on the Wheelock College Wildcats at 5:30 PM. Like UNE, the Pride also have two games played already, which they've split. Head Coach Charlie Brock has scheduled an aggressive early season slate, and the team has fared pretty well against difficult opposition. The Pride lost 62-59 at home against Rhode Island College on Tuesday and rebounded with an impressive 74-63 victory at Salem State on Thursday. Both opponents are coming off outstanding NCAA tournament seasons; RIC won the 2009 Little East regular season crown while Salem State advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.

The Wildcats have only played one game so far, a 79-63 victory over the Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday night in Boston. Head Coach John Preziosa's squad figures to be tested much more in this matchup against Springfield tonight.

Steve Uno, Patrick Burns, and Brian Micholazyk will officiate the Springfield/Wheelock game, while Gary Pucino, Evan Burroughs, and Joseph Fortes will handle the UNE/UMD nightcap.

While I hate to get ahead of myself, it looks like a UMD/Springfield final could be one of the best matchups in Hampton Inn Classic history. Remember to listen to tonight's games to see if it happens.

Enjoy the tournament, everyone!

Corsairs Go Greene on Opening Night

2009-11-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Corsairs (1-0) opened the season in grand style with a 105-77 win over Johnson and Wales tonight. Well, at least the second half was grand. The Corsairs trailed 49-47 at halftime after a first half in which JWU (0-2) shot nearly 60% from the floor. But UMD was able to straighten things out in the second half, thanks in large part to a 20-0 run that helped secure the victory.

The Corsairs had five players in double figures, but newcomer Lance Greene stole the show, scoring a double-double in just 24 minutes.

Here are the official stats from tonight's game.

New to the web tonight are a pair of game recaps, one from UMass Dartmouth Sports Information Director Dave Geringer, and the other from Mick Colageo for the New Bedford Standard-Times. You can read Dave's story at CorsairAthletics.com. Frankly, I'm a little surprised Mick didn't elect to run up to Salem to catch our hockey game! Kidding aside, it was great to have him there covering hoops, and you can read his story in the New Bedford Standard-Times.

Mick was also gracious enough to allow me to film his postgame interviews for the blog. Below, in order, are his interviews with Brian Baptiste, Jeff Macchi, and Lance Greene. I was standing a little farther away each time, so turn your speakers up a little for Jeff's interview, and then a little more for Lance's.

In case you missed it, you can click over to the broadcast interviews (recorded before the game) of Brian Baptiste and a joint interview with Matt Walker and Jeff Macchi. Thanks to Podbean.com for hosting these interviews free of charge.

Hope you enjoyed all the coverage of opening night. I'll be back on Friday to get you ready for the Hampton Inn Classic. I would appreciate your feedback in the comments as I get started.

Pregame: Men vs. Johnson and Wales Tuesday 11/17

2009-11-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new UMD Basketblog! My name is John Cabral, and I will be handling play-by-play broadcasts of Corsair men's and women's basketball throughout the season.

This blog will serve as a place for me to do my homework before broadcasts, and as a centralized location for me to put recorded and written content. For now, I have no defined purpose or production schedule for this space. If you have any requests for things you would like to see appear here, let me know in the comments.

Tonight is opening night for the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs, while the Johnson and Wales Wildcats (The first step is always learning the opponent's mascot!) are coming off a 61-58 loss at the hands of Roger Williams at home in Providence on Sunday.

You can listen to tonight's game and participate in tonight's live blog. After tonight's broadcast, you will be able to find a postgame interview with UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste, and perhaps some players on our new YouTube channel.

Some pregame nuggets while you wait for tipoff:

*Tonight's officials are John Lanni, Chris Mello, and Joe Dias

*Brandon Shelton, V.J. Divine, and Tom Henneberry are all in street clothes tonight for UMD. Shelton and Divine are recovering from knee surgeries, and Henneberry is sidelined with a sprained ankle.

*Tonight's broadcast will feature a pregame interview with UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Baptiste, and a halftime interview with Corsair seniors Matt Walker and Jeff Macchi.

Enjoy the broadcast, everyone!