AMHERST, Mass. - The La Salle University men's basketball team suffered a 81-65 road loss at Massachusetts on Wednesday night. Four players reached double figures in scoring, led by freshman Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi's 14 points. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Explorers and Minutemen went back-and-forth early, with the home team eventually taking a 30-24 advantage with a little more than three minutes left in the first half.
• La Salle went on a 7-2 spurt to close the period and pull to within one, as freshman Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi led the way with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
• Jhamir Brickus also had a quality first 20 minutes, scoring six points and dishing out five assists.
• UMass came out of the locker room with a 12-2 run and took a 56-45 lead at the 8:10 mark.
• A jumper from freshman Ryan Zan and a three-point play by Khalil Brantley pulled the visitors to within seven at 59-52, but that is as close as it would get as UMass pulled away late.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• La Salle closed shooting 7-for-25 (28%) from three-point range and just 6-for-15 (40%) from the free-throw line.
• The rebounding battle went in favor of Massachusetts, as they outboarded the Explorers, 44-31. 
• The Minutemen outscored La Salle, 21-7, in points off turnovers despite both teams turning the ball over 12 times.
• Josh Cohen had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead Massachusetts.
• Brickus closed with 12 points and six assists, while Daeshon Shepherd (11) and Andres Marrero (10) also reached double figures in points.

UP NEXT

• La Salle returns home for a nationally-televised matchup with VCU at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday, January 13. 
• The game will are live on USA Network, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
• The matchup will be the first of a doubleheader inside the arena, with the women playing UMass at 3:00 p.m.