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he University of Massachusetts men's basketball team out of necessity turned to a one-in, four-out lineup last month. But it may have turned the season around as the Minutemen have won four straight since they began starting just one big man.
While smaller and quicker has been good to UMass in recent weeks, its merits will be tested at 2 p.m. Sunday when the Minutemen host Dayton at the Mullins Center.
Few teams in the nation have more interior size than the Flyers, and it's not just a combination of inches and pounds either. Center Sean Finn and power forward Keith Waleskowski are both skilled and are enjoying excellent seasons.
Waleskowski, who stands at 6-foot-8, 231 pounds, is the conference's leading rebounder and arguably its best big man. He's averaging 10 boards to go with 12.6 points per game. He has more defensive rebounds (151) than all but five players in the league have for total rebounds. And Waleskowski has more boards than the No. 15 and 16 rebounders do combined. Finn, the league's biggest regular at 7-feet, 240 pounds, has improved each season of his career. The senior center has scored 12 points per game and grabbed 7.2 rebounds.
Even if one of them gets into foul trouble, the Flyers can still bring 6-foot-10, 244-pound freshman big man James Cripe off the bench.
Dayton is the nation's 12th best rebounding team and has outrebounded opponents by eight boards per game.
''The fact that both of those kids (Waleskowski and Finn) are seniors helps as well, cause they've been through the battles,'' said Dayton coach Brian Gregory. ''We've really focused on rebounding and those guys have done a great job of anchoring that.''
UMass coach Steve Lappas said Dayton is the best rebounding team UMass will have faced this season.
''Tennessee was big too, but these guys are better rebounders,'' Lappas said. ''Rebounding is a real weapon for them.
Lappas is prepared to play big men Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme together at times if necessary, but said he hopes to utilize the Minutemen's quickness advantage.
''We need to be prepared to do that. But they also have to guard us,'' Lappas said. ''They have to send somebody out to guard (Jeff Viggiano). They have some matchup problems themselves.''
With so much attention placed on Dayton's inside play, senior Ramod Marshall has occasionally gotten overlooked. He's leading the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game while his 5.7 assists is second in the A-10 and his 2.14:1 assist to turnover ration leads the league.
''I think he might be the most underrated player in the county,'' Gregory said. ''He's done a remarkable job. This is a guard-dominated league by some unbelievable guards. I would place him in the same category as any of them.''
The Flyers arrive as winners of their last eight with a perfect 8-0 league mark and 18-3 overall record. Barring disaster, Dayton's trip to the NCAA Tournament is assured. The Flyers, who play undefeated Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, may be the only team that can keep the Hawks from a perfect regular season.
The Dayton players have bought in to what Gregory has taught them in his first year. ''They've been great,'' Gregory said. ''Credit the three seniors in the starting group for leading the way.''
Gregory said he is leery of facing the Minutemen, who will enter the game on a four-game winning streak.
''They're playing their best basketball of the year. They're figuring some things out with Gabe Lee out,'' he said. ''The Freeman kid is going to be a heckuva player in this league. They're playing with a lot of confidence right now.''
Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected].
he Massachusetts men's basketball team is looking for its fifth consecutive win as it tips off against undefeated conference foe Dayton, Sunday at the Mullins Center. A win would give Coach Steve Lappas his longest winning streak since coming to UMass three years ago.
The Minutemen (9-11, 3-5 Atlantic 10) have been playing solid basketball over the past few games, but it will take more than good ball movement to stay ahead of a much bigger Dayton team. The Flyers (18-3, 8-0 A-10) lead the series with UMass 5-4, and has won the last three contests.
"It'll be an interesting game," Lappas said. "They're really going to test us size-wise because they're huge and they're the 12th leading rebounding team in the country. That's going to be a real challenge for us especially the way we are now, but I know we'll fight hard."
The Minutemen's line-up is significantly smaller now that center Gabe Lee is out for the season. With at least three guards on the court at all times, everyone will have to play big and box out. Rebounding will be a major factor in continuing the streak.
"If we rebound well we will contain them," Lappas said. "That's the whole key, if you rebound they're not able to get out and transition as much as they normally do, so rebounding helps stop a couple of things.
"Rebounding has been something we've spent most of our practices on all year, but especially since Gabe's been hurt," he said.
For the Minutemen, playing smaller means playing a slightly different game. More focus is now being put on ball movement and shooting because there are fewer options and opportunities underneath.
"It's definitely helped us," Lappas said of the teams' ball movement. "We were doing it some in the beginning, we played Jeff [Viggiano] at the four spot significant minutes this year, but now we don't have the option of going the other way. I think it's helped our younger guys ... I think they feel like they have more space to make a drive."
The confidence of the younger players has improved drastically over the past few games. With less seniority to rely on and holes needing to be filled, they have stepped up in every way their coach has asked them to.
"I expected a lot from them from day one," Lappas said. "I think now their experience has helped them, now they have the confidence to go out there and do things in the clutch when we need it.
"We're a better team because we have more of a comfort level with more guys."
The Flyers, on an eight game winning streak, haven't lost a decision since their January third match at Wyoming. They are also currently leading the A-10 west. The Minutemen are tied for second with Rhode Island in the A-10 east behind No. 3 St. Joe's.
Freshman guard Art Bowers was named A-10 Rookie of the Week as he averaged 18 points, 6 assists and 4.5 rebounds in UMass' triumphs over Fordham and Rhode Island. Bowers joins sophomore Rashaun Freeman and freshman Maurice Maxwell in receiving the honor.
MHERST - Heading into yesterday's game armed with a four-game winning streak, UMass was showing signs of resurgence. The Minutemen were to get a true test of how far they had come in their tilt with Dayton, undefeated in Atlantic 10 play.
UMass hung in with the impressive Flyers for 39 minutes but its 36.1 percent shooting from the field was too much to overcome and the Minutemen dropped a 66-59 decision at the Mullins Center.
Dayton (19-3, 9-0 A-10) was led by its powerful frontcourt combination of seniors Keith Waleskowski, who had a game-high 18 points, and 7-foot center Sean Finn, who added 17.
UMass freshman Stephane Lasme, of Libreville, Gabon, had his best game of the season, compiling 13 points, seven rebounds and six blocks.
Minutemen coach Steve Lappas said his team's gritty performance was encouraging, but the result came down to age over innocence.
``I think there's no way three weeks ago that we shoot 36 percent and got a shot to win that game against that team,'' he said. ``It basically came down to their three seniors. Even a kid like (Ramod) Marshall, who didn't play a good game, in the last minute he makes a basket and two foul shots. That was the difference in the game. It was experience vs. inexperience. They got three senior starters who are very good and we got young kids who went out there and played as hard and as hungry as they possibly could.''
Marshall, defended by senior Anthony Anderson, was held scoreless until the final 1:36 of the game, a contest that the Minutemen, despite their poor shooting, still had a chance to pull out.
With 5:18 to go, Anderson's 3-pointer tied the game at 54-54. For the previous 10 minutes of action, the Flyers' lead fluctuated between six and eight points. Lasme, a lanky 6-8 lefty forward, kept his team close during that stretch, scoring eight straight points in and around the paint.
He also had several blocks during that period to prevent Dayton from possibly running away.
``He was pretty athletic,'' said Waleskowski, who had three shots blocked by Lasme (six for the game). ``We knew he comes from the weak side and blocks shots. Most times I would pump fake and make the basket. If he doesn't rotate and get six blocks, we would have beaten them by much more.''
Making UMass' ability to stay in the game more impressive was the fact that sophomore center Rashaun Freeman was limited to six second-half minutes due to foul trouble.
``At halftime we felt that we were playing good,'' said Anderson. ``They weren't really killing us on the glass. We just weren't making shots. Everybody shot horrible except Stephane and Chris (Chadwick, 5-of-7, 12 points). We just really weren't making shots. At halftime we felt like we were going to win the game.
``Even in the second half when we tied it up we felt the same way,'' added Anderson. ``We felt they've let us hang around too long, we are going to get this one. I felt we played a great game other than just (not) making shots.''
Lappas said that while he was happy with his young team (9-12, 3-6), he said it would only mature on its own time.
``(Dayton's) Ramod Marshall was 0-for-10 going into the last minute of that game,'' he said. ``And he made two big plays (four points) in the last minute. Let's put it this way, do I think that (UMass freshman guard) Artie Bowers right now could go 0-for-10 and make two big plays on the last minute in a big game on the road? I don't know. Maybe he can and maybe he can't. But I know Ramod Marshall can because he's a senior. So that makes all the difference in the world.''
MHERST - Dayton senior forward Keith Waleskowski yesterday said that throughout last week he grew tired of hearing about the Flyers' Atlantic 10 showdown Wednesday night at undefeated, third-ranked St. Joseph's - since the Flyers had yet to put their unbeaten league mark on the line at Massachusetts.
"We'd go to the mall, or anywhere we'd go, people kept saying, `Good luck at St. Joe's,' and we were like, `We have to go to UMass first,' " he said. Waleskowski was right to be worried, as the Flyers came close to leaving UMass with their first A-10 loss in nine games.
The Minutemen fought sub-par shooting with exceptional defense. They rebounded well against a much taller opponent and outhustled Dayton much of the time. But after UMass tied the game with 5:18 left, Dayton made several clutch baskets to forge ahead, then held on for a 66-59 triumph before a Mullins Center crowd of 4,076.
Waleskowski had a game-high 18 points to lead four Dayton double-figure scorers, and he added eight rebounds. Though Dayton (19-3, 9-0) struggled, it did not appear to have looked past the Minutemen to Wednesday night's showdown in Philadelphia.
The Flyers' struggles were due in large part to UMass (9-12, 3-6), which lost for the first time in five games and appears to have rebounded from losing seven consecutive games by an average of 16.9 points before its win streak. UMass also had four players in double figures, led by freshman Stephane Lasme's career-high 13.
Lasme also had a career-high six blocks and added seven rebounds. Moreover, his 6-for-8 shooting from the floor was the lone bright spot for a team that shot 36 percent and thwarted its cause with late misses.
Lasme said despite the team's hustle, "We lost, and that's the most important thing."
Still, coach Steve Lappas said the effort - like the four wins that preceded it - shows UMass is improving.
"Our guys gave an unbelievable effort," said Lappas. "It came down to us missing some shots. I told them the first day of practice that if we missed good shots, that's just basketball. We played hard."
UMass never trailed by double digits. It rallied from an 8-point first-quarter deficit for a 34-34 tie at halftime. The Minutemen got off to a slow start in the second half and again trailed by 8 with 15:14 left. But they rallied again, and with 5:18 left tied the game, 54-54, on a trey by senior guard Anthony Anderson (11 points).
Waleskowski scored consecutive baskets, putting Dayton ahead, 58-54, with 3:28 left. Then, Flyers senior guard and leading scorer Ramod Marshall, who missed his first 10 shots, scored his first points when he sank two free throws with 1:36 left, making it 60-54.
After UMass ended a 3:59 scoring drought with a free throw by freshman forward Rashaun Freeman, Marshall sank his only field goal of the game, a jump shot with 49 seconds left that made it 62-55. UMass never came closer than 5 after that.
MHERST, Mass -- On another day when point guard Ramod Marshall wasn't shooting well, the University of Dayton Flyers had enough firepower to pull away in the last five minutes for a 66-59 victory over Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon.
The victory set up the Flyers, now 19-3 overall and leaders of the Atlantic 10 Conference West Division at 8-0, for a Wednesday night showdown with unbeaten Saint Joseph's, the runaway leader in the East.
"We've been showing what I call grit, and we showed it again today," UD coach Brian Gregory said. "We kinda ground that win out, which we've done at times."
Keith Waleskowski said he was never worried.
"I never ever think we're going to lose a close game like that," he said. "We had a lot of guys step up and make some big shots down the stretch. We're definitely happy with the win. We get to go to St. Joe's now and see what we're made of."
With five minutes left, the score was tied at 54, and the Flyers knew it was time to put the Minutemen away.
"We had to get some stops and defensive rebounds," guard Mark Jones said. "We had to go to the other end and get it down low to our big men."
The Flyers didn't yield another basket until they were ahead, 62-55.
As he does so often, Marshall figured prominently in the game-winning run. After Keith Waleskowski buried a baseline jump shot, Marshall set up Waleskowski for a layup, drained two free throws and banked a 12-foot baseline jump shot to give Dayton the cushion necessary to stop Massachusetts' four-game winning string.
Waleskowski, the 6-foot-8 senior forward, led the Flyers in both scoring and rebounding with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Center Sean Finn collected 17 points and 7 rebounds, Jones had 13 points with 5 assists and Monty Scott added 10 points as Dayton continued on what now is its best start in 46 years.
Not since the 1957-58 season has a UD team had a better record and been 19-3 after 22 games. The 1957-58 team won 23 before losing its third game.
Marshall, who was was bothered by cramps and went 0 for 7 in Wednesday's overtime victory against Richmond, had another horrible shooting day. He was 0 for 6 in the first half and scoreless until he sank the first of two free throws with 1:36 remaining. He had missed all 10 of his shots when he came open for a baseline jump shot with 48 seconds left and buried it.
"You could tell he was frustrated a little bit," Gregory said, "but he put that aside and made the play that sealed the victory."
"Of course, you don't want to miss shots, but sometimes they're not gonna go," said Marshall who finished with four points. "At the end you can't be worried about what you didn't do earlier in the game."
"I thought we got Ramod some good shots,'" Gregory said. "If he makes half of those, it's a different game."
The victory stretched UD's lead in the West Division to 2 1/2 games over second-place George Washington.
Once again the Flyers handicapped themselves by not shooting well at the free-throw line. They sank only 8 of 17 with the struggling Finn converting 1 of 6 and Waleskowski making 2 of 5.
Dayton was able to win the rebounding duel by only a 42-40 margin, and the athletic UMass front-liners blocked six shots.
"It wasn't there today," Waleskowski said. "We didn't play well, but we're happy to come out of here with a win. We started well, but it went downhill from there."
MHERST - When Anthony Anderson's game-tying 3-pointer dropped through with 5 minutes and 19 seconds left Sunday, the 4,076 University of Massachusetts fans at the Mullins Center roared excitedly.
After the Minutemen erased an eight-point second half deficit, everyone in the building sensed they might have a chance to knock off Atlantic 10 heavyweight Dayton and stretch their winning streak to five games.
But after Anderson's hoop, UMass shooting went cold. The Minutemen didn't make another field goal until the final 40 seconds of the game. Dayton took advantage with a 6-0 run that created enough space to allow the Flyers to escape with a 66-59 victory.
''I thought our guys made an unbelievable effort,'' UMass coach Steve Lappas said. ''We have young kids that were playing as hard and as hungry as they possibly could. It came down to us missing some shots.
''If we lost a game because we missed good shots, that's just basketball,'' he added. ''We played hard. We played defense. We rebounded. We fought that team every inch of the way. We need to be proud of the effort we gave.''
Still Jeff Viggiano and Anderson were disappointed afterward.
''We definitely could have had this one,'' Viggiano said. ''We shot the ball terribly.''
''I feel we played a great game other than just making shots,'' Anderson said.
The Minutemen shot 36 percent from the field for the game, and just 33 percent in the second half.
The late scoring drought negated one of the Minutemen's finest performances of the season. Despite being significantly smaller, UMass (9-12, 3-6 Atlantic 10) played Dayton (19-3, 9-0) to a near standstill on the boards with the Flyers holding a 42-40 edge. And foul trouble limited Minuteman leading rebounder Rashaun Freeman to five boards and eight points in 20 minutes.
 Jeff Viggiano tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to help the cold-shooting Minutemen beat Dayton. |
The game marked the second standout effort from freshman big man Stephane Lasme, who had seven rebounds and career highs in points (13) and blocked shots (six).
Chris Chadwick had a career-high 12 points, while Anderson added 11.
Anderson's defense helped UMass hold Ramod Marshall, Dayton's leading scorer, to four points, but he scored those with the game on the line.
''Anthony Anderson is a tremendous defender,'' Lappas said. ''He has not been hurt by anybody, whether they're bigger than him or smaller than him. He did a great job tonight.''
After Anderson (12 points) tied the game, Dayton went inside to Keith Waleskowski on consecutive possessions. He hit a spinning baseline jump shot and a layup inside to make it 58-54 with 3:28 left.
Both teams traded missed baskets and turnovers before an Anderson foul sent Marshall to the line. He made both free throws and after Freeman sank one free throw, Marshall hit a tough-angle jumper from the baseline to seal the Flyers' win.
''He was 0-for-10 then makes the toughest shot he took all night,'' Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. ''You could tell he was frustrated, but he put that aside and made the play.''
Waleskowski scored 14 of his game-high 18 in the second half and had eight rebounds to lead Dayton. Sean Finn added 17 points and seven rebounds.
''Honestly we've been in that situation so many times, I don't ever think we're going to lose a close game like that,'' Waleskowski said. ''We've been in a number of them this year and I've never been nervous or worried that we're going to lose. I always have a feeling that we'll pull it out.''
The Minutemen will try to capture their third straight road win in a building where visiting teams are rarely successful. They will travel to Xavier for a 4 p.m. tip Saturday at the Cintas Center.
Despite the loss, the crowd gave UMass several ovations during the game and a final one after the players walked off the floor.
Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected].
here were moments as recently as three weeks ago when it was fair to wonder if University of Massachusetts backup big man Stephane Lasme would improve enough this season to provide any consistent help to the Minutemen. The freshman from Gabon seemed too raw and foul prone to accomplish much.
But for the past week, the slender 6-foot-8 forward has gone from liability to standout. His play off the bench on offense and defense with Rashaun Freeman in foul trouble Sunday helped UMass nearly upset Dayton.
Lasme, who had 12 points, including 10 straight, against Rider on Tuesday, scored 13 Sunday to go with seven rebounds and six blocked shots.
Senior captain Anthony Anderson said it was just a matter of Lasme gaining experience and confidence.
''We've always been confident in him. We needed him to develop confidence in himself,'' Anderson said. ''He had a big game at Rider and I felt like that gave him confidence. Now he looks to take (defenders) to the hole. He's always going to rebound and block shots, but now he's starting to look for his own shot.''
UMass coach Steve Lappas said Lasme's teammates trust him more now.
''There's a difference between me telling them to throw him the ball and it's another thing for him to inspire confidence for them to throw him the ball,'' Lappas said. ''Right now I think he's inspiring confidence.''
Lasme was more disappointed with the loss than pleased with himself. ''I have more confidence in my play, but I wanted to win. My teammates wanted to win,'' he said.
Lappas said he saw Lasme beginning to break through last month.
''You start doing it in practice like two or three weeks before you do it in a game,'' Lappas said. ''Since the beginning of January he's been much better in practice. It was just a matter of time before it came out in games.''
Dayton all-conference forward Keith Waleskowski admitted Lasme's defense changed the game.
''A kid like that is really athletic and got up to a lot of our shots. He controlled the paint a little bit for them,'' Waleskowski said. ''That really helped keep them in the game.''
Dayton coach Brian Gregory agreed. ''His quickness hurt us inside. He was aggressive going to the glass and keeping things alive,'' Gregory said. ''That kid is good. He brought an energy level to the team that really gave them a spark.''
ROOKIES SLOWED - Outside of Lasme, the UMass rookies struggled. Freeman was plagued by foul trouble and had just eight points and five rebounds. It was just the third time this season he hasn't reached double figures in scoring and it ended a nine-game streak of 10 points or more.
Coming off last week's Rookie of the Week honors, Artie Bowers came back to earth. He airballed his first 3-point try and made just one of 11 shots he attempted for two points. Maurice Maxwell was 1-for-6 and also finished with two points.
ATLANTIC 10 STANDINGS - The loss dropped the Minutemen to third place behind Temple in the Atlantic 10 East standings.
The Owls are 4-5 in league play while UMass dropped to 3-6.
NEXT UP - The Minutemen will travel to Xavier Saturday to take on the Musketeers, who upset Cincinnati on Wednesday and pounded Fordham Saturday.
MISCELLANEOUS - Former and future UMass big men Eric Williams, Kitwana Rhymer and Jeff ''Big Deli'' Salovski'' were in the crowd. ... New UMass athletic director John McCutcheon made his first appearance at a Minuteman basketball game. ... With his 11 points, Anderson now needs 74 points to become the 36th Minuteman to reach 1,000 for his career. He's on track to reach the milestone March 3 at Temple. ... UMass junior center Gabe Lee, who is out for the season, is expected to have surgery next week.
Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected].
he Massachusetts men's basketball team put dropped a disappointing 66-59 decision to Dayton yesterday before 4,076 at the Mullins Center.
UMass junior Anthony Anderson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 54, but Flyers senior forward Keith Waleskowski responded with a quick bucket to give his team a two-point lead. After a scoreless minute and a half, Waleskowski upped his team's lead to four with another bucket. Two Ramod Marshall foul shots gave Dayton a six-point lead with just over a minute and a half remaining.
A Rashaun Freeman foul shot at the 1:19 mark cut the Flyers' lead to five, but Marshall's jumper with 49 seconds remaining pushed the lead back up to seven. Ten seconds later, UMass junior Chris Chadwick quickly responded with a layup and Dayton's lead was back to five.
The Flyers pushed their lead back up to eight with a bucket and free throw, putting the game out of UMass' reach. A Chadwick lay-up with 11 seconds remaining was too little, too late.
"I thought our guys gave an unbelievable effort in that game," UMass head coach Steve Lappas said. "They played as hard and as hungry as they possibly could and it came down to us missing some shots. I told them from the first day of practice if we lose a game because we missed good shots, then that's basketball. We played hard, we played defense, we rebounded, we fought that team every inch of the way."
In recent games, freshmen Art Bowers and Maurice Maxwell have stepped up in clutch situations for UMass. In yesterday's game, neither player was able to find their rhythm giving Chadwick, a junior transfer, more court time. Chadwick scored a career-high 12 points in 28 minutes.
"Maurice and Artie were struggling a little bit tonight so obviously that opens up some minutes for someone else and Chris stepped up," Lappas said. "Chris gives us a great option. He's a little bit older, even though he's a new kid he's really starting to find his way too."
Freshman Stephane Lasme has been a key player for the Minutemen since junior center Gabe Lee went down with an ankle injury last month, and yesterday Lasme scored a career-high 13 points and six blocks in the loss. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
Chadwick and Lasme were just two of the four Minutemen in double figures as Anderson and sophomore Jeff Viggiano each had 11. Viggiano registered his third double-double of the season, adding a career-high 13 rebounds.
Due to the overwhelming presence of Freeman, Lasme and Viggiano underneath, Dayton was unable to get the ball into its big men in the first half. The Flyers were denied opportunities inside and were forced to take outside shots. The Flyers shot 5-for-13 from downtown and were out-rebounded on their end of the floor 13-9.
As for Marshall, he shot 1-for-11 from the floor, a stat Lappas attributed to Anderson's defensive presence.
"Anthony Anderson is just a tremendous defender," Lappas said. "He has not been hurt by anybody bigger than him or smaller than him. He's just a great defender he did another great job tonight."
Dayton coach Brian Gregory knew that this game against UMass wasn't going to be an easy one.
"Obviously going into this game, I felt UMass was playing probably their best basketball this season," he said. "I knew they would cause match up problems with Freeman inside being very, very good and Bowers was their leading scorer three out of five games.
"We prepared for this game like it was the most important game of the year and for us it really was. It's one of those games you feel good and fortunate to get out of here with a win."
Lappas was very proud of his team's effort and thought that aside from not knocking down shots, the loss boiled down to a lack of experience.
"I just told our guys that the difference in this game was that it was strictly experience versus inexperience," he said.
"I think our young kids are coming along. They're playing hard and getting better. We know we can beat this team ... we need to be proud of the effort we gave, we fought as hard as we could."
assachusetts freshman center Stephane Lasme is playing his first season of organized basketball in the United States, but don't tell that to Dayton's Keith Waleskowski.
A pre-season First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, the 6-foot-10 Waleskowski surely expected to have a field day Sunday afternoon at the Mullins Center against what amounts to the smallest team in the conference.
Since losing starting center Gabe Lee to a season-ending ankle injury at St. Bonaventure, the Minutemen start only one player taller than 6-foot-6 and boast only two such players on the active roster.
However in a game that had "trap" written all over it for the Flyers, it was the 6-foot-8 native of Gabon, Africa who did yeoman's work in keeping UD's inside game contained for much of the first half, and finding his offensive touch in the second half to allow the Maroon and White to make a spirited charge at handing the Flyers their first conference setback of the season.
"I thought Stephane played very well today," Massachusetts coach Steve Lappas said. "He was a solid presence on both ends of the floor, and had what was probably the best game he's had since coming here."
"He was very active on both ends and changed a lot of what we were trying to do down low, especially involving Keith [Waleskowski]," Dayton coach Brian Gregory added. "We knew he blocked shots, but I thought he did a nice job on Keith [Waleskowski] down low - his athleticism really caused problems."
Coming in among the top 10 in the nation in blocks per game, Lasme capitalized on early foul trouble for Waleskowski and frontcourt mate Rashaun Freeman by making the most of his nine minutes of playing time in the first half, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds.
However Lasme's best was yet to come, as his second half of play was arguably his best as a collegiate athlete. Faced with the return of Waleskowski upon the start of the second frame, Lasme was immediately forced into action when Freeman picked up his third foul just 3:02 into the half.
With Dayton ahead by eight after a 3-pointer by Mark Jones at the 15:14 mark, Lasme then went to work on both Waleskowski and seven-foot center Sean Finn. The only true big man in the game for UMass, Lasme was relentless on the offensive glass and saw it pay off as part of eight straight points for the freshman - notable in the fact that it helped him accumulate a team-high 13 points on the game, a new career-best for the former Gabon National Team member.
"We know Stephane's going to get his blocks and rebounds," Junior captain Anthony Anderson said. "But what he did on offense today was really big for us. It helped keep us in the game down the stretch."
Coupled with seven rebounds, including six offensive boards and multiple times keeping loose balls alive, Lasme's 13 points and six blocks - including a monster swat of a Waleskowski offering down the stretch in the second half - certainly accentuated what was a breakthrough performance for a player who is very much a part of rebuilding the Minuteman program to national prominence.
"I think I'm making good progress with my game," Lasme said. "I was happy with my performance today, but i just want to win like my teammates.
"That's all I want to do, just win."
| Dayton Flyers | 66 |
| Massachusetts Minutemen | 59 |
| at the Mullins Center | |
Official Basketball Box Score
Dayton vs Massachusetts
02/08/04 2:00 p.m. at Amherst, MA(Mullins Center)
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VISITORS: Dayton (19- 3, 9- 0)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 BENNETT,Marques..... f 0-3 0-2 0-0 3 4 7 1 0 1 0 1 0 21
45 WALESKOWSKI,Keith... f 8-17 0-0 2-5 2 6 8 3 18 2 0 0 2 26
54 FINN,Sean........... c 8-14 0-0 1-6 4 3 7 0 17 1 2 2 0 36
03 MARSHALL,Ramod...... g 1-11 0-6 2-2 0 2 2 3 4 6 4 0 1 34
14 JONES,Mark.......... g 4-9 3-5 2-2 1 7 8 1 13 5 0 0 0 35
01 SCOTT,Monty......... 4-7 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 2 10 2 2 0 0 21
11 WILLIAMS,Warren..... 1-1 1-1 1-2 0 1 1 1 4 3 1 0 2 14
15 WHITE,Logan......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 IGUODALA,Frank...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 8
44 CRIPE,James......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 26-63 6-17 8-17 14 28 42 15 66 22 9 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-35 37.1% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% Game: 41.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 47.1% 3
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HOME TEAM: Massachusetts ( 9-12, 3- 6)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 MAXWELL,Maurice..... f 1-6 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 0 0 23
22 VIGGIANO,Jeff....... f 3-10 3-8 2-2 2 11 13 4 11 0 0 1 1 36
01 FREEMAN,Rashaun..... c 2-8 0-0 4-6 2 3 5 4 8 1 1 1 1 20
12 ANDERSON,Anthony.... g 4-11 3-9 0-0 0 3 3 3 11 2 3 0 2 40
34 BOWERS,Art.......... g 1-11 0-4 0-1 0 1 1 0 2 4 2 0 1 26
00 MARTIN,Brennan...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
05 LASME,Stephane...... 6-8 0-0 1-2 6 1 7 3 13 1 0 6 0 25
13 CHADWICK,Chris...... 5-7 2-3 0-0 1 2 3 0 12 3 2 0 0 28
TEAM................ 1 4 5
Totals.............. 22-61 8-24 7-11 13 27 40 16 59 13 11 8 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 11-33 33.3% Game: 36.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 63.6% 2,2
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Officials: Duke Edsall, Joe Lindsay, James Haney
Technical fouls: Dayton-None. Massachusetts-None.
Attendance: 4076
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Dayton........................ 34 32 - 66
Massachusetts................. 34 25 - 59
ID-229384
Points in the paint-DAYTON 32,UMASS 26. Points off turnovers-DAYTON 9,UMASS 11.
2nd chance points-DAYTON 12,UMASS 19. Fast break points-DAYTON 9,UMASS 2.
Bench points-DAYTON 14,UMASS 25. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-4 times.
Last FG-DAYTON 2nd-00:33, UMASS 2nd-00:11.