March 12, 2011

Box Score

Junior F Brian Hanuschak compiled 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 5 Saint Rose over No. 4 UMass Lowell, 81-68, Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Division II East Region Men's Basketball Tournament at Bentley University's Dana Athletic Center.

UMass Lowell, with nine sophomores and freshmen, end a stellar season with a 20-10 record. The River Hawks are expected to return all 14 players for the 2011-12 season.

Saint Rose (22-8) moves on to the East Region semifinal to face No. 1 and host Bentley (22-7) Sunday night at 8:30. In other games, No. 3 Stonehill defeated No. 6 Adelphi, 73-64, while No. 7 Bloomfield stunned No. 2 American International College, 100-96.

"I just think it was the tale of two halves," said Head Coach Greg Herenda.  "We played really good basketball in the first half, but going into the second only up nine, I knew we were still in for a dog fight."

Freshman G Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass.) led UMass Lowell with 22 points. With his 22-point showing, Williams became UMass Lowell's highest-scoring freshman in program history. He finishes his rookie campaign with 546 points, surpassing John Paganetti ('84) who tallied 540 during his freshman season. Paganetti went on to become UMass Lowell's second all-time leading scorer in program history with 2,091 points.

Sophomore F Matt Welch (Lowell, Mass.) added 15 points and five rebounds, while sophomore F Romeo Diaz (Methuen, Mass.) chipped in 10 points and four rebounds.

Hanuschak converted 6 of 11 field goals and all eight free throws and was one of five Golden Knights to score in double digits. Sophomore G Andre Pope added 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while shooting 5-8 from the field.

Junior G Rob Gutierrez had 14 points (3-4 field goals, 7-8 free throws) while freshman G Kareem Thomas chipped in 12 points (4-8 FG shooting) and junior G Shea Bromirski 11 points and three assists.

"When you have a game like that in your grasp and you don't finish it, that one you think about for a little bit," said Herenda. "But we got beat by a very good team."

UMass Lowell shot .500 in the first half (16-32) and converted 6 of 14 attempts from 3-point range. The River Hawks, however, went cold in the second half, converting at a .313 clip (10-32), particularly from long range (2-16).

Saint Rose struggled to a .381 clip (8-21) in the first half, but found its touch in the second, hitting .577 (15-26). The Golden Knights also outrebounded UMass Lowell, 41-30 overall and 32-19 on the defensive end.

Saint Rose outscored UMass Lowell in the second half, 47-25.

In the first half, UMass Lowell led 22-18, but used a 12-4 spurt to grab a 34-22 cushion with 7:37 left in the half. Junior G Robbie Walton (South Boston, Mass.) led the spurt with a layup followed by a trey while junior C John Corbacio (Stoney Creek, ONT) came off the bench to mesh a 3-pointer.

The River Hawks led at the break, 43-34.

In the second half, UMass Lowell continued to have the run of play early on and led 52-42 with 17:12 left to play. The Golden Knights, however, stormed back with a 19-3 run to grab a 61-55 lead with 10:39 remaining in the game. Pope led the run with three consecutive layups and a free throw while Thomas also had seven points on a pair of layups and a 3-point basket.

UMass Lowell cut the deficit to 63-62 behind a pair of jumpers by Welch, but the Golden Knights scored six straight points - five by Hanuschak - to post a 69-62 lead with 7:25 left to play.

A pair of free throws by Diaz and a layup by Williams, brought the River Hawks within three (69-66), but Saint Rose answered with another six straight points to snatch a 76-66 lead with 1:51 left to play.

The Golden Knights converted 5 of 6 free throws over the final 1:13 to seal the win.

"Hats go off to Saint Rose, I'm really proud of my guys," said Herenda.  "Just looking out there the final 20-something seconds, finally I could just look at my team through realistic eyes and I just saw a young bunch of guys that gave everything that they had and didn't have anymore and I'm just so happy that I'm the coach here."

Photos by Matt Bagdovitz: