Senior Night Success: Minutemen Level La Salle, 100-63 :: Forbes reaches 1,000 points at UMass.

March 5, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass put together one of its most complete performances of the season in a rousing 100-63 win over a hot La Salle team in Wednesday's Senior Night at the Mullins Center. The A-10's leading scorer Gary Forbes scored his 1,000th point at UMass as he racked up 26 points and 11 rebounds in his final regular-season home game at the Mullins Center. Four other Minutemen reached double-figures as sophomore Ricky Harris scored 21, Dante Milligan tallied 18 points, six rebounds and blocked five shots. Chris Lowe posted a triple-double with 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Etienne Brower started slow, but finished with 13 points.

UMass picks up its 20th win of the season for the 14th time in school history, standing at 20-9. The Minutemen, who have won five games in a row and are now 9-6 in the Atlantic 10. La Salle, who was tied with UMass in third place entering the game is now 8-7 in the league and 14-15 overall. The Explorers were led by Darnell Harris, who had 13. He was held to one point in the first half.

It was the third time this season UMass scored 100 points.

The Minutemen blew out the Explorers in the second half outscoring them 61-42 in the second half.

The Explorers cut the lead to 51-36 with 15 minutes left in regulation, but Forbes' second 3-pointer of the game gave UMass back a lead of 54-36.

Forbes hit his first 3-pointer in two games to give UMass a 43-19 lead with just one minute into the second half.

The Minutemen led 39-19 at halftime with Ricky Harris leading all scorers with 13 points. La Salle's Darnell Harris was limited to just one shot attempt in the first half, scoring a single point on a free throw.

Lowe's steal and lay-up put the Minutemen up 34-17 with 3:23 left in the first.

Forbes reached 1,000 points in his UMass career on a jumper in the paint with 5:40 left in the first half, giving UMass its largest lead to date at 28-16. That basket forced La Salle to call timeout.

Forbes' breakaway spinning reverse dunk gave UMass a 26-16 lead with 5:54 left in the first, that gave him 998 points at UMass. Five straight points by Milligan, who had four blocked shots in the game's first 10 minutes, gave UMass a 22-14 lead with 9:24 left in the first half.

The game began with a fiery tone as both teams scrapped and scraped. Ricky Harris hit his second 3-pointer to give UMass a 17-9 lead with 11:05 left in the first half.

UMass, seeking a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament which begins on March 12, will finish the regular-season on Saturday at George Washington (9-15, 5-9 A-10) at 7:30 p.m.