The Steve Lappas era began Friday night with a finish that animated the Mullins Center with a sound that hasn’t been heard around these parts in some time.

Surmounting a 10-point second half deficit, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team topped Arkansas-Little Rock 66-60, with help from its home crowd, which proved hostile at each credit of a Minuteman feat in the clutch.

Still, the new Minuteman skipper would have been perfectly content if the 6,277 UMass fans left the building in less of a frenzy.

“I’d rather have a blowout, to be honest,” said Lappas, after guiding UMass to a victory in its 100th game at the Mullins Center.

“Don’t get me wrong, this is good for the confidence…it’s a good character game, a good game to point to, but I’d rather have a blowout.”

Tied at 60 with 41 seconds to play, senior Kitwana Rhymer connected on a jump hook deep in the lane to give UMass the 62-60 advantage.

During Little-Rock’s next possession, sophomore Willie Jenkins knocked the ball away from the Trojans’ Mark Green at midcourt, recovered the loose ball, and got the ball to sophomore Anthony Anderson. The ball then swung around the perimeter and Jenkins ended up getting fouled and was sent to the line.

Despite going 0-for-5 during the previous 39 minutes of play, Jenkins connected on both of his free throws to give his Minutemen the four-point advantage.

“Coach Lappas knew they were going run that play so he told us to push every string,” said Jenkins, who made his first career start earlier in the night. “A man went up and picked for Micah (Brand), but the other guy forgot to come pick for me, so I just booted over the pick and ended up getting my hands on the ball.

“Then I saw it on the floor, and I knew I had to get it in order for us to win, so I just dove on it.”

“I give Willie Jenkins a lot of credit,” said Lappas, whose team drew more fans Friday night than James “Bruiser” Flint’s did last year versus Top 25 Xavier on Valentine’s Day. “He struggled in the first half, but he jumped right out to make that defensive play and I think they were surprised by it.

After Jenkins’ two from the charity stripe, UMass forced another Trojan turnover in traffic and senior Shannon Crooks dribbled the length of the court for the game’s final tally.

UMass began the second half down ten points, after Little-Rock’s Rory Green nailed a three-pointer from the top of the arc at the first half’s buzzer, but the Minutemen quickly cut into that lead early in the final stanza, thanks in part to the solid defense and shot-blocking of Rhymer.

With 17:24 remaining, Rhymer grabbed a rebound but threw the ball away on his outlet pass. Seconds later, Trojan Green drove to the right side of the glass, but Rhymer recovered quickly and swatted the attempt off the backboard. The block resulted in a Crooks lay-in at the other end to cut the Little-Rock lead to 39-34.

The rejection was also served as certain boost for Rhymer’s teammates and the Maroon and White faithful.

“At the beginning of the second half, Kit made a big block and the crowd really got into it and that got us into it so everybody just picked it up a notch,” said Anderson, who hit a key trey with 5:03 left in the game to cut the Trojan lead to one (54-53).

Anderson also drilled two free throws with 1:28 left to bring the score to 60-57. But that lead was shot down after Mark Green nailed a three-pointer on the next trip down the court, right before Rhymer unleashed his deciding baby hook.

The game started with eight straight points from Brand, who tied his career high with 23, shooting 11-for-14 in the process. The junior gave UMass its first lead of the second half at the 4:01 mark when he accepted a pass from Crooks on the left side and calmly sank a turnaround jumper to give his team the 55-54 lead.

Crooks added 16 points for the Minutemen, including two key three-pointers at 10:28 and 3:10, the latter giving UMass the 58-57 advantage. He also played the second half with three fouls, failing to ever pick up his fourth.

Anderson, who played 37 minutes at the point, score 10 points, eight of which came in the final half. Playing in his first collegiate contest, Anderson became the first UMass player to win the A-10 Rookie of the Week since Monty Mack did in 1998.

Nick Zachery led Little-Rock with 17 points and Damion Ninkovic added 14. The two combined for seven of the Trojans 10 three-pointers, which came from 30 long-range attempts.