Jan. 6, 2010
Box Score
UMass Lowell capped its four-game road stretch with an 84-71 victory at Assumption College on Wednesday evening. Kyle Caiola (Parma, OH), Kevin Carr (Lancaster, OH) and Ali Kanaan (Montreal, Que.) combined for 61 points, all scoring in double figures.
With the victory, the River Hawks improve to 9-3 on the year and stand at 6-2 in conference action. The Greyhounds fall to 7-5 on the year and even their conference record to 4-4.
“To win at Assumption is a very difficult thing to do,” head coach Greg Herenda said. “We had to play extremely well as a team to come out of here with a win. Their program has such great tradition and they play very hard.”
The teams stayed close for the first four minutes of play, but UMass Lowell began to pull away when Kanaan went on a 9-0 run over a three minute span early on. He tallied three layups, a tip-in and a foul shot to shift the pace of the game from the River Hawks down by one to up by eight at 14:05.
The River Hawks went on to score back-to-back-to-back threes, as Caiola, Carr and Marcus Johnson (South Bend, IN) knocked down treys. Minutes later, Caiola went on to notch another two and Carr added one more to put UMass Lowell up by 17 with 7:23 left in the first. The River Hawks finished the half with five long-range baskets and 11 on the night.
Despite building a large lead, the Greyhounds chipped away and came within four points (63-59) with 9:59 remaining in regulation. Carr stepped in and sank a three and short-range jumper, while Kanaan capped off the run with a dunk to lift UMass Lowell back up by 11 just over two minutes later. After that, Assumption never came closer than within eight points and the River Hawks held on for the 13-point victory.
Caiola led all scorers with 23 points, added six assists and four rebounds. He shot .500 from the floor (7-14), including four of five from long range. The other half of the Ohio offensive tandem, Carr, hit six threes and finished with 22 points on the night. He grabbed four steals and dished a pair of assists, as well.
Senior forward Kanaan nearly recorded a double-double with 16 points (11 first half) and eight rebounds. He went 7-8 from the floor, swatted five blocks and had four steals in the contest.
“I am really happy for Ali to have the game that he did,” Herenda said. “He has been banged up for a while and tonight he just put everything together and played arguably the best game of his career.”
Junior Max Kerman (Watertown, MA) grabbed seven boards for UMass Lowell, despite the Greyhounds holding on to a slight 38-34 advantage on the glass. Turnovers were a wash, as each team lost the ball 15 times, but the River Hawks swatted six blocks compared to Assumption’s one.
The Greyhounds were led by Courtland Bluford’s 16 points, while Tim Beinert tallied 11 points and grabbed a team-best eight boards.
“It seems like we have not played a home game in a really long time. It will be good to be back in Costello again,” Herenda said.
The River Hawks return to their home court on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 4:00 p.m. when they will host the Charges of the University New Haven in a Northeast-10 matchup.
