If the average Div. III men's basketball fan were told three months ago that this January would end with just one undefeated team remaining of the original 389, it wouldn't have been too hard to believe. And if that team happened to be from New England, then, sure, there'd be nothing implausible about that.
So where was the smart money back in November? On the defending national champions from Amherst, who won 30 games last season for the first time in program history? Or the upstart Brandeis Judges, who raised eyebrows across Div. III when they knocked off the Lord Jeffs on Dec. 9? Or perhaps the Jeffs' rivals from Williams, who returned one of the best senior classes in recent memory after winning a NESCAC title in '07?
All good guesses, no doubt.
But wrong, wrong and wrong. Say hello to the other 18-0 team in Massachusetts - and it's not the one training for Super Sunday down in Arizona. It's UMass Dartmouth.
The Corsairs, who finished 14-13 last season in New England's Little East Conference, have jumped out to an unbelievable undefeated start, toppling a slew of New England foes along the way, among them national powers Brandeis, Rhode Island College and Keene State. They've become the team to beat in the LEC - or just maybe, in the entire nation.
"It has taken me by surprise," said Reece Freeman, a junior co-captain and three-year starter at the point. "I didn't think we could be this good. I thought we could have a better season than in past years, but I didn't think we could be quite this good. I guess everything just came together for us."
What's come together is a wealth of talent, all peaking at the right time. Freeman himself ranks fourth in the nation in assists per game, with 7.6, and second in steals, with 3.6. Two other guards, senior A.J. Tavares and sophomore Tyler Turtoro, have emerged among the LEC's best three-point shooters. And perhaps most importantly, the Corsairs are getting a double-double a night from Dan Holbrook, their senior co-captain, who returned from a broken foot sustained last winter to make a huge impact this time around.
The 6-foot-6 Holbrook, with his 15.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, has been the catalyst from win one, a 102-51 thrashing of Albertus Magnus on Nov. 16, to win 18, a 102-73 victory over UMass Boston Tuesday. And with each win, the big man's attitude never changes.
"We're very modest about it," Holbrook said. "We take it kind of like the Patriots - it's one game at a time. In our conference, any team on any given night can beat you, and I think everyone on our team really understands that. Our last eight games [before Tuesday] have gone right down to the wire."
The Corsairs' conference foes include RIC, who went 27-4 last year en route to the Elite Eight, and Keene, a perennial 20-game winner that reached the Sweet Sixteen last March. They barely survived Keene in a home game Jan. 12, as a 24-point, nine-rebound effort from senior forward Cory Tynes helped them squeak by 100-97 in overtime. On Jan. 22, they overcame a big second-half deficit in Providence, as a late layup from sophomore guard Jeff Macchi gave them their final lead and an eventual 77-70 win.
Perhaps their biggest test of the year came from the Judges, whose bid for a No. 1 national ranking was spoiled Dec. 6 by an overtime loss in North Dartmouth. In that contest, it was freshman forward Brandon Stephens who iced the win for the Corsairs, sinking a pair of layups in overtime to lift them over the then 7-0 Judges, 71-64.
It's been a different guy stepping up each night, and with team unity at an all-time high, the Corsairs are poised to make a run at a conference title. There's been a great deal of parity in the LEC in recent years - they've had four champions (RIC, UMass Boston, Western Conn. and Keene) in the past four seasons - and UMD, with a two-game lead over the defending-champion Anchormen in the conference standings, is looking to be the next.
"I think we have a very good chance of winning the regular season championship," Holbrook said. "If we do that and we host the tournament, I definitely think we have a chance to win it here. But it's going to be tough."
After taking on Southern Maine at home Saturday afternoon, the Corsairs are set for a tough three-game stretch starting next week - Tufts and Keene on the road, followed by RIC Feb. 12 - that will test their resolve down the stretch.
"We've got a big bull's eye on our back," Holbrook said. "If any one team beats us, that's a big feather in their cap."
But knowing the fire in this year's UMD squad, they're not ready to fold up their undefeated run just yet.
"I'm a competitor," Freeman said. "I want to win everything. It's not just being undefeated that I care about - I want to win every single game. Some people would say, 'Oh, 17-1 is a good record, or 18-1, or whatever,' but that's not me. It means a lot to be undefeated."
