Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass 2nd-half surge falls short in road loss to Explorers

Jeff Bernstein/Collegian
Jeff Bernstein/Collegian

Make that four losses in as many tries for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team when it has visited Tom Gola Arena under the helm of coach Derek Kellogg.

Even a 50-31 second-half advantage, which included a 21-6 run to start the half, wasn’t enough for the Minutemen (12-4, 1-1 Atlantic 10) to reverse their misfortune as they fell to La Salle (12-4, 2-0 A-10), 82-75, on Sunday afternoon.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for UMass, which trailed 51-25 to the Explorers at halftime and were down by as much as 28 in the second half before it roared back and cut the deficit to as little as five with under a minute remaining.

But it was a case of too little, too late for the Minutemen as La Salle sunk its free throws to seal the game and hand UMass its first conference loss of the season.

“We lost because of us,” said Chaz Williams during a postgame interview. “We weren’t following the scouting report and not keying on the right guys. We were not being aggressive and we were turning the ball over too much.”

Williams, Jesse Morgan and Sean Carter all scored career-highs in points with 24, 22 and 18, respectively, to pace UMass, but its dismal first-half performance ultimately cost them the game.

The Explorers took advantage of 16 first-half turnovers committed by the Minutemen and converted 10 3-pointers to take a commanding 26-point lead into the break.

“We came out flat,” said Morgan. “If we came out with the spark we had in the second half it would have been a totally different game.”

After giving up a season-high 51 points in the first half, Kellogg decided to switch from man-to-man to zone defense. The decision proved to work, as the Explorer offense struggled to find its rhythm from the first half and committed 15 turnovers to allow the Minutemen to climb back.

And scoring 11 points to lead UMass in the first half, Morgan, who was returning to his native Philadelphia, built on his big day as part of the big run to start the second half.

He scored eight points during the 21-6 spurt, which was capped off with his breakaway jam that pulled the deficit down to 11 with 10:44 remaining.

The Explorers kept their lead at double digits until Williams converted on an and-1 opportunity with 2:31 left to narrow the score to 67-60.

But Devon White answered right away with an and-1 of his own and La Salle made its free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory and stay undefeated in conference.

Earl Pettis sunk four 3-pointers as part of his 19-point afternoon to lead La Salle, while Ramon Galloway scored 18 points and Tyreek Duren chipped in 12 and eight assists.

“It’s always frustrating losing,” said Morgan. “We have to move on and get ready for the next game.”

UMass will look to get back on track when it returns to the Mullins Center this week as it hosts Charlotte on Wednesday and Saint Joseph’s on Saturday. The Minutemen are 8-0 at home this season.

“If the kids come back and have a good attitude and realize that playing like that is unacceptable, especially in league play, I think we’ll be OK,” said Kellogg. “But they have to buy into what we’re teaching.”

Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Hewitt.

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