The Drexel Dragons led by as many as 17 points in the second half during Tuesday night's 2012 NIT Tournament quarterfinal against the UMass Minutemen. They scored just two points over a six-plus minutes stretch, however, allowing the Minutemen to pull within five points, 55-50, with 11:25 remaining in the game.
Then Terrell Vinson got hot, scoring 12 points over a six minute stretch to put the Minutemen up 68-62 with four minutes to play. Chaz Williams and Jesse Morgan added 3-pointers during the run to complete a stunning UMass comeback. Drexel clawed back, closing the gap to two points, 72-70, with 1:23 remaining. They wouldn't score another point, however, missing a Samme Givens tip shot and an Frantz Massenat jumper at the buzzer to give UMass the win.
With the 72-70 win, UMass became just the fourth team in the history of the NIT to win three games on the road to advance to the Final Four. Williams led all players with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Vinson finished with 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Massenat led the Dragons with 16 points, and Givens had 12 with 10 rebounds. The Dragons won the rebounding battle 36 to 16, but were out shot 58.8 to 45.2 percent from the floor.
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