AMHERST, Mass. - Redshirt junior Pookie Powell scored a career-high 30 points, but UMass guard Luwane Pipkins set a new Mullins Center record with 44 points as Massachusetts earned an 86-79 overtime win over the La Salle University men's basketball team in Atlantic 10 action on Wednesday evening. 

On a night where the Explorers (7-10, 1-3 A-10) were once again without the services of the A-10's leading scorer B.J. Johnson, the visitors built a 17-7 lead with 12:05 remaining in the opening half. Senior Tony Washington played a key role in putting together the double-digit cushion, scoring eight points over the first 9:21 of the contest.

UMass (9-8, 2-2 A-10) would cut the La Salle advantage to three at 21-18, before a 12-2 spurt bumped the lead back to 33-20 at the 3:36 mark. Senior Johnnie Shuler provided a spark during the run, scoring on a driving layup and a floater in the lane.

Four straight points to close the first half gave the Explorers their largest advantage of the contest to that point at 41-25, and a 7-2 run out of the gate in the second stanza pushed the margin to 48-27 with 18:21 left.

But Massachusetts slowly began to mount a comeback, with Carl Pierre and Pipkins leading the way. Pierre scored seven straight points to cap a 15-2 run that brought the Minutemen back to within eight at 50-42.

La Salle led by a score of 60-50 after a tip-in bucket from Powell, but Pipkins began to heat up shortly thereafter. The sophomore guard scored 18 of his team's next 22 points, including 11 of UMass' 13 unanswered points that gave the home team a 72-66 lead.

The Explorers would not go away quietly, however, as Deas, who finished with 19 points, connected on consecutive three-pointers to tie the game back at 72-72.

Powell's driving layup would give La Salle a two-point cushion with under a minute left, before Pipkins was able to convert on two free throw attempts with 24 seconds remaining to tie the game again.

Powell had a chance to give the Explorers a win in regulation but his jumper from the baseline was off the mark as the game moved to overtime.

UMass scored the first five points of the extra period, before Powell's jumper brought La Salle back to within three at 79-76 with just over two minutes to go. Pipkins, however, proved to be too much as his two three-pointers on consecutive possessions essentially put the game away.

The Explorers held UMass to 36.0 percent shooting in the opening half, but the Minutemen shot 56.4 percent in the second half and overtime. In contrast, La Salle shot 59.3 percent in the first half but only 35.1 percent following intermission.

A Saturday matinee in Pittsburgh is up next for the Explorers, who will tangle with Duquesne in another Atlantic 10 matchup on Jan. 13. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m., with the contest airing live nationally on NBC Sports Network.