March 4, 2010
Box Score
Audio Recap - The River Hawk Report - March 5, 2010
Behind a 32-point performance by sophomore guard Kyle Caiola (Parma, OH), the #7 UMass Lowell River Hawks (19-11) upset the #3 Merrimack Warriors (20-8), 80-70, in front of a sellout crowd of 1,124 at the 2010 Northeast-10 Tournament Semifinal in North Andover on Thursday evening.
With the victory, the River Hawks will host #9 Adelphi in the 2010 Northeast-10 Championship game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Costello Gymnasium. UMass Lowell is 2-1 all-time in the NE-10 title game, winning its last title in 2004.
Caiola notched 18 points in the first half, going 8-10 from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play and tallying 10 of the River Hawks’ first 12 points. This was Caiola’s third 32-point performance of the season, his personal best, and he now stands at 1,009 career points in his UMass Lowell career and becomes the 35th member of the 1,000 Point Club. The guard finished the night going 3-5 from long range, notching three rebounds and assists, also grabbing a pair of steals.
"Obviously it is quite an accomplishment for Kyle to reach 1,000 points so early in his career," Herenda said. "I'm sure he's not thinking about it at this moment, though, but very few people achieve that benchmark. I know he's focused right now on trying to win a championship on Saturday."
Senior forward Ali Kanaan (Montreal, Que.) also had a stellar game, tying his personal best with 15 rebounds, including seven offensive, and tallying 16 points. He dished three assists and blocked three Merrimack shots in the game, going 5-11 from the floor.
“The bookends really propelled us to a win,” head coach Greg Herenda said. “With Ali in the paint and Caiola from the perimeter – they played a nearly perfect basketball game and everyone else filled in, in between.”
The teams traded leads for the first seven minutes of the contest, with Merrimack taking its final lead (17-16) with 12:50 remaining in the half. UMass Lowell then pulled away on four back-to-back treys, three by senior Kevin Carr (Lancaster, OH) and one by Caiola.
The barrage of long-range shots was part of a 17-2 run by the River Hawks that put them up by 14 (33-19) with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. UMass Lowell held onto the advantage and went into the break with a 12 point lead (46-34). The River Hawks shot 58.8% in the first half (20-34), holding the Warriors to just nine field goals (9-25; 36.0%) in the first stanza. Merrimack sank 14-15 free throws in the first to keep the game close, though, while the River Hawks took just two shots from the charity stripe, making one.
In the second, UMass Lowell built the lead up to as many as 16 after a three from Caiola and a free throw by Kanaan (16). Merrimack tried to reel it back in with a layup and a three, but junior captain Max Kerman (Watertown, MA) answered back to both baskets, keeping the Warriors from building too much momentum at the start of the half.
Merrimack finished the game on a 7-2 run, but UMass Lowell held on for the victory, keeping the program’s record unblemished (4-0) in NE-10 Semifinal action, all-time.
“We beat another great team with All-American players, in their building,” Herenda said. “Our kids just stuck together and played hard to hold on for that win.”
The River Hawks held Merrimack to just five threes in the game on 24 attempts, while the Warriors had been averaging a conference-best 8.67/game. They also outrebounded the Warriors 52-36, including a 29-19 advantage on the defensive glass.
Behind Kanaan’s 15 boards, Kerman and Robbie Walton (Boston, MA) grabbed seven apiece. The pair also tallied five points, two assists and one steal each. Senior Craig Heatherly (Mishawaka, IN) grabbed five rebounds in the tilt, as well. Carr finished the game with 12 points on four three-pointers, also dishing three assists and grabbing a steal for the River Hawks in the tilt.
“I never thought we’d be back in Costello this season, but obviously Saturday will be a great opportunity to win a championship in our own building,” Herenda said. “We’ve got our hands full with Adelphi, who is a lot like us. They are a very defensive, gritty, tough, hard-working team, like us, but we are looking forward to the challenge.”
Merrimack was led by Darren Duncan’s 28-point performance, while Darin Mency notched 15 first-half points en route to a 17-point night. He grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, as well. Forward Aaron Strothers was the only other Warrior that scored in double figures, tallying 10 points on 4-5 shooting from the floor.
“We traveled well to North Andover and I think our crowd really gave our guys a boost,” Herenda said. “We are excited to bring it back home to play in front of them.”
