AMHERST – When it looks back on the season, missed defensive rebounds in the final minute are going to haunt the UMass men’s basketball team.

Saturday’s 71-68 loss to Fordham was controversial. Prokop Slanina’s tip in with 46 seconds left marked the third time this season that an offensive rebound led to a critical or decisive basket in a game the Minutemen lost by one possession.

• In a Nov. 14 loss at Ole Miss, UMass missed its last six shots and gave up a tip-in to Sebastian Saiz with one second left to fall 90-88.

• Against Central Florida, the Minutemen, who had trailed for much of the game, tied the score 62-62 with 14 seconds left. A.J. Davis missed a layup with four seconds left, but UCF got the offensive rebound and won the game on a 3-pointer win one second left.

Fordham entered Saturday’s game ranked 329 out of 351 teams in offensive rebounding percentage at 20.5 percent. But against the Minutemen, they turned 15 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points. They had four offensive rebounds in the final 2:10.

After Rashaan Holloway blocked Antoine Anderson late in the shot clock, referees eventually ruled (after video review) that Anderson’s offensive rebound and subsequent missed shot off the rim, happened before the shot clock expired.

Slanina followed with another offensive rebound, tipping the ball in with 46 seconds left turning a one-point game into a three-point game.

“It’s definitely a terrible feeling to play as hard as we did and they get the rebound,” said junior Donte Clark. “That brings everybody down. It definitely hurts. … I mean we’ve had a couple of those games so hopefully we make a change instead of trying to think back on what we could of did instead of next game just doing it.”

CLARK BOUNCES BACK – After averaging 4.5 points per game over the previous four games, Clark had 17 points and eight rebounds. It was his seventh game with 15 or more points this season. He now has 1,098 career points, which puts him in 37th place, nine behind former teammate Cady Lalanne.

DUNKING GRESHAM – Freshman Brison Gresham has just 19 field goals, but he leads the team with 12 dunks. Six of his other baskets have been layups. His high school teammate DeJon Jarreau has assisted on 11 of his baskets.

MISCELLANEOUS – UMass has dropped two straight to Fordham after winning five straight in the series. The Minutemen are 10-3 at home and 11-3 in the state. They are 0-3 against the league’s three Rams.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage