The Week That Was

December 18, 1996 - January 6, 1997

by Jim Mullins
Assistant Director
Sports Information

Corsairs come up with a split in Florida during the holiday break

The Corsair came up with a split against a pair of Division II teams in Florida last week. Coach Brian Baptiste's team (2-5) beat Florida Tech, 69-65, in Melbourne, FL on Jan. 2, before dropping a 101-70 decision to Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL the following day.

Sean Donovan (Quincy, MA) didn't start the game against Florida Tech, but he had an awful lot to do with how it finished. Donovan connected on seven of 11 three-pointers for a game-high 27 points to lead UMass Dartmouth to a 69-65 victory. The Corsairs trailed by seven at halftime, 37-30, but came roaring back in the second half to outscore the Panthers, 39-28 for the four-point victory. Joining Donovan in double figures for UMass Dartmouth were captain Rick Taylor (Freetown, MA) with 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA) with 16 points and a game-high four steals.

Lynn University improved its record to 8-1 by bolting out to a 56-32 halftime lead against UMass Dartmouth and never looking back in the second half. Leading the way for the Corsairs in a losing effort was Tony Moreira (Pawtucket, RI) with 15 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Donovan continued with the hot hand from three-point range, connecting on three of seven on the way to a 13-point performance. Taylor added 10 points and five rebounds, while Bland added nine points and dished out a game-high seven assists.

Seven games into the season, Bland is UMass Dartmouth's leading scorer with a 15.9 points per game average along with a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game, plus 20 assists and 21 steals. Jason Antonio (Mattapoisett, MA) has connected on 14 three's for 41% and Donovan has hit on 50%, making 12 of 24 long-range attempts. Antonio is tops from the free throw line (20-25, 80%) and second in scoring (13.1 pts) and assists (19). Rounding out the Corsairs' scoring leaders are Taylor (12.8 pts), Donovan (12 pts) and Moreira (10.1 pts).

Following the two games in Florida last week, the Corsairs will return to action in New England on January 8th when they travel to Waltham for a game against Brandeis University. UMass Dartmouth will be back on campus Jan. 11 for a home game against Little East Conference-rival Plymouth State College.

Ryan Sloper named ECAC/Bauer
Rookie of the Week

First-year goalie Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA) was named one of the Bauer/ECAC Rookies of the Week on December 17, following his 16-save shutout against Roger Williams University and a 23-save performance in an 8-2 UMass Dartmouth (9-1, 3-1 ECAC Central) win over Quinnipiac College. In games Sloper has started in goal for Coach John Rolli's Corsairs, UMass Dartmouth is 6-0-0 with a 2.59 goals against average. In four ECAC Central games, Sloper has a 4.19 goals against average, third in the conference with a saves percentage of .860. Overall in eight appearances, Sloper's goals against average is 2.59 with an .896 saves percentage.

Through games played December 17, the Corsairs had three goal scorers in the ECAC Central's top seven. Craig Hardy (Everett, MA) was the Corsairs' leading scorer (6-5-11), third in the conference, followed by Jason Cormier (Waltham, MA) (4-5-9) and Mike Doherty (Stoneham, MA) (5-4-9) tied for sixth. Hardy leads the Corsairs in scoring through the first 10 games (8-14-22), followed by Jarrod DiBona (Weymouth, MA) (8-9-17) and Doherty (10-7-17) tied for second, and Jeramie DiBona (Weymouth, MA) (7-9-16) and captain Marc Salvi (Cheshire, MA) (4-12-16) tied for third.

The Corsairs return to the ice on Thursday, January 16 with an ECAC Central game at New Hampshire College. Earlier this season, UMass Dartmouth knocked off NH College, 10-3 at Hetland Arena.

This Week's Schedule
(home games in bold)

Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
7	8 Men's Basketball	9	10	11 Men's Basketball
14 Men's & Women's Basketball	15	16 Men's B-ball Wmn's B-ball Ice Hockey	17	18 Basketball Track Swimming Ice Hockey

Wednesday, January 8

Men's basketball @ Brandeis University

Saturday, January 11

Men's basketball vs. Plymouth State

Tuesday, January 14

Men's basketball vs. UMass Boston
Women's basketball vs. UMass Boston

Thursday, January 16

Men's basketball @ Clark University
Women's basketball vs. St. Joseph's
Ice hockey @ New Hampshire College

Saturday, January 18

Men's basketball @ Wheaton College
Women's basketball @ Clark University
Men's indoor track @ Bates College
Women's indoor track @ Bowdoin College
Women's swimming vs. WPI
Men's swimming vs. WPI
Ice hockey vs. Tufts University

Jim Mullins
Assistant Director, Sports Information and Daily News
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
Dartmouth,MA 02747-2300
Phone: News (508) 999-8965 Sports (508) 999-8720
Fax: (508) 999-9200
JMullins@UMassD.edu
(If your browser does not support the "mail to" function,
then this link will not work.)

For more news at UMD visit The Torch

 Last Updated On: 6/5/06