Over the five-game stretch that opened the Massachusetts men’s basketball team’s Atlantic 10 conference schedule, the Minutemen seemingly found five different ways to lose.
However, exactly a week after coach Steve Lappas’ squad was blown away by No. 3 St. Joseph’s for the fifth of five consecutive losses, the Maroon and White have found a way to win.
After downing Temple 66-65 to post its first league victory despite blowing a 22-point lead, UMass again raced out to a double-digit lead last night, and again had to hang on down the stretch, this time outlasting Fordham 76-70 before 2,988 at the Mullins Center.
The Minutemen (7-11 2-5 A-10) return to action Saturday afternoon, as they will travel to Kingston, Rhode Island for a 1 pm tip-off with URI at the Ryan Center.
“I think our guys are enjoying what they’re doing right now, because they sure look like it to me,” Lappas said. “We had an unbelievable first half and a mediocre second half, but still made the right plays when we needed to down the stretch to pick up a win.”
Mike Haynes led all scorers with 28 points, while the backcourt combination of Mark Jarrell-Wright and Derrick Breland chipped in with 12 points and 10 points, respectively for the Rams (4-13 1-5 A-10).
On the UMass side, it was again the youngsters that came up big as Art Bowers had 18 points and eight assists while Rashaun Freeman tossed in 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Junior captain Anthony Anderson (14 points) and sophomore forward Jeff Viggiano (11 points) were also in double figures for the Minutemen.
“We’ve got three freshman and a sophomore out there, a lot of new guys,” Lappas said. “I see them getting better, and that to me is the most important thing, that we’re improving.”
“We’re getting better as a team, we’re getting better as individuals and it’s fun to see,” he said.
Trailing 53-49, Fordham guard Jermanine Anderson’s pair of baskets sandwiched around a free throw from Freeman narrowed the UMass lead to 57-51, but five points from Anderson on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws widened the Maroon and White lead to 62-51 with 7:30 to play.
Nonetheless, Fordham would not go away, as five more points from Haynes and a pair of buckets from guard Mark Jarrell-Wright helped the Rams climb back to within six at 66-60 with under five minutes left.
Haynes then answered a Freeman basket when the sophomore made the first of a one-and-one situation, before grabbing the rebound of his missed second shot and converting a lay-up to make the score 68-63.
Freeman came back with another tough basket off of a solid post move, but Haynes responded with another two of his own before an Anderson basket and a Breland free throw narrowed the edge to 70-68 with just under two minutes to play.
The Minutemen hung tough, however, as another low post basket by Freeman pushed the lead to four with 34 seconds remaining. The Rams were then unable to come up with anything offensively, settling for a long three from Haynes before a free throw apiece from Freeman, Chadwick and Maxwell all but sealed the deal for the Maroon and White.
“Any time a team shoots 61 percent in the first half, and you still have a chance to be in the game, is incredible,” Fordham coach Dereck Whittenburg said. “We came out in the second half and played man-to-man and got right back in the game.”
“We had our chances, but Freeman just made some great plays when they needed them
