Nov. 19, 2011

Box Score | Highlights/Herenda Interview

Senior G Dipanjot Singh (Evanston, Ill.) matched his career-high of 24 points and led five players in double figures as No. 23 UMass Lowell defeated Philadelphia University, 92-68, Saturday afternoon in a non-conference men’s basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

With the win, UMass Lowell improved to 4-0 entering Tuesday’s Northeast-10 Conference clash at Saint Michael’s (women at 5:30, men at 7:30).

Philadelphia slipped to 1-2 overall and visits Merrimack Sunday at 1:00.

“Our plan was to play hard for 40 minutes," said head coach Greg Herenda. "We wore them down and continued to play great defense in the second half – we held them to 23 points. We kind of packed it in a little bit. The big kid (7-foot senior Temi Adebayo) was giving us trouble.”

Singh converted 8 of 10 field goals, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and all four free throws and grabbed four rebounds in 22 minutes.

“God bless Dipanjot. That’s what he does every game,” said Herenda. “His family flew in from Chicago this weekend. That kid works so hard. We’re hard to guard when Dipanjot is scoring.”

Senior G Robbie Walton (South Boston, Mass.) and sophomore F Antonio Bivins (Miami, Fla.) each added 15 points – Walton shooting 5-5 from the field and 5-5 from the free throw line and Bivins 3-6 from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line.

Sophomore G Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass.) scored 14 points on 6-10 field goal shooting and dished three assists. Junior F Matt Welch (Lowell, Mass.) chipped in 13 points on 5-9 field goal shooting and 3-7 from long range.

Freshman G Nick Schlitzer led the Rams with 21 points – including 16 in the first half – on 8-12 shooting and 3-6 from 3-point range. Adebayo added 18 points and four rebounds while shooting 8-13 from the field.

Sophomore G Nick Christian chipped in 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while senior G Corey Francisco had 10 points and six rebounds.

Both teams shot well from the field – UMass Lowell .608 (31-51) and Philadelphia .500 (25-52) – but the River Hawks shot .538 in the pivotal second half (14-26) while the Rams struggled to a .300 clip (6-20).

UMass Lowell led at the break 50-45 but outscored Philadelphia in the second half, 42-23.

“In the second half we just defended and shared it,” said Herenda. “We made shots. We have a lot of options.

UMass Lowell led 56-55 shortly into the second half and used a 21-4 run to snatch a 77-59 cushion with 9:32 left to play. Walton scored six points in the run while Singh added five. Bivins and Williams had four points apiece.

The River Hawks committed only nine turnovers and forced 17 from Philadelphia, leading to a 30-8 scoring advantage off turnovers. Led by Singh and Bivins, UMass Lowell’s bench outscored the Philadelphia reserves 39-0.