PLEASANTVILLE, NY – Freshman G Kyle Caiola (Parma, OH) scored 25 points as UMass Lowell defeated Pace University, 71-64, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball clash at the Goldstein Fitness Center.

The victory was the eighth straight for the River Hawks – marking the longest winning streak since the 2003-04 season – who improved to 12-3 overall and 7-3 in the NE-10. UMass Lowell returns home Wednesday at 7:30 to host Southern Connecticut, the first of four home games in its next five dates.

The victory also marked the first time the River Hawks won in Pleasantville since Jan. 11, 2003, ending a 0-3 spell. Pace slipped to 6-8 overall and 4-5 in the Conference.

"We had to play for the full 40 minutes to beat a very tough Pace team today,” said UML Head Coach Greg Herenda. “We came out big early but they stepped up their defensive intensity and the rest of the game was nip and tuck."

Caiola converted 7 of 10 field goals (5 of 8 from 3-point range) and 6 of 8 free throws and fell short of matching his season-high by a single point. The River Hawks also got 12 points apiece from junior F Victor Colon (Chicago, IL) and junior G Craig Heatherly (Mishawaka, IN).

Colon also chipped in five rebounds, two assists and two steals while Heatherly added a season-high eight rebounds while hitting 4 of 8 field goal attempts. Junior G Kevin Carr (Lancaster, OH) dished out six assists in addition to eight points while junior C Ali Kanaan (Montreal, QUE) had eight points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Freshman F Delroy Daley came off the bench to lead the Setters with 18 points and eight rebounds while converting 6 of 9 field goals and 6 of 7 free throws. Freshman G Adrian Mills added 14 points and five rebounds.

UMass Lowell outscored the Setters from 3-point range, 27-3, which compensated for a season-high 24 turnovers, opposed to 18 by Pace.

The Setters also outrebounded UMass Lowell 17-9 on the offensive end, enabling it to post a 21-10 advantage on second chance points.

 UMass Lowell led 59-53 with 4:36 left to play, but the Setters countered with a 6-2 run to trim the lead to 61-59 with 1:06 left to play.

However, Caiola meshed a trey and, following a steal by freshman Marcus Johnson (South Bend, IN), Carr converted the second of two free throws for a 65-59 lead with 30 second remaining.

Caiola buried a pair of free throws for a 67-61 lead with 29 seconds left but Pace closed the deficit to 67-64 on a conventional 3-point play by Daley. Caiola, however, hit four straight free throws in the final 13 seconds to put the game out of reach.

"Kyle Caiola has performed well beyond his years and bailed us out again,” Herenda noted. “It was truly a road team victory where all 10 our healthy players all laid it on the line. Road conference victories are not easy to come by and this game was no exception."

In the first half, UMass Lowell jumped out to leads of 14-0 (behind treys by Heatherly, Caiola and Colon) and 20-7, but the Setters battled back. Trailing 25-15 with 6:44 left in the half, Pace used a 15-7 spurt to close the deficit to 32-30 at the break. Freshman G Ryan Woods led the run with four points.