Jan. 17, 2012

Box Score

Junior F Matt Welch (Lowell, Mass.) and senior Dipanjot Singh (Evanston, Ill.) combined for 37 points as UMass Lowell defeated Le Moyne, 80-51, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball tilt at the Costello Athletic Center.

The win was UMass Lowell's fifth in its last six games as it improved to 11-5 overall and 7-5 in the Conference entering Saturday's game at Assumption (3:30).

Le Moyne, which had won six of its last seven games, slipped to 9-7 overall and 5-7 in the NE-10.

Welch led all scorers with 19 points as he shot 8 for 16 from the field. Singh added 18 points, shooting 5-9 from the field and 4-7 from 3-point range, and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds.

Sophomore G Scotty Tavares-Taylor (Roxbury, Mass.) chipped in 15 points (5-9 FGs, 4-8 treys), five rebounds and four assists.

The River Hawks also got significant numbers from senior Robbie Walton (South Boston, Mass.), who added eight points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists; and sophomore Kerry Weldon (New York, N.Y.) who had eight points and five rebounds.

"We just played on all cylinders tonight," said head coach Greg Herenda. "It was great to see our offense catch up to our defense. It may have been the best team effort for a game since I took this job.

"When Scotty plays like that he makes us a very difficult team to guard," Herenda added. "He allows Akeem (Williams) and Dipanjot to get some really good looks."

Senior G Chris Johnson led Le Moyne with 15 points on 5-10 field goal shooting while sophomore C Jim Janson added 14 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots while shooting 7-9 from the field.

Led by Singh and Tavares-Taylor, UMass Lowell outscored Le Moyne 42-24 from 3-point range, hitting 14 of 34 shots while Le Moyne shot 8-25 from long range.

The River Hawks also forced the Dolphins into 18 turnovers while committing only seven, resulting in a 21-7 scoring edge off turnovers.

UMass Lowell led 24-17 with 7:35 left in the first half and ended the half with a 17-6 run to post a 41-23 cushion at the break. Singh led the run with four points while Walton added a conventional 3-point play and Tavares-Taylor one from long range.

The River Hawks opened the second half with a 14-3 spurt - led by five points from Weldon and four from Welch - to grab a 54-26 lead with 16:17 left to play.

"On top of that, Matt Welch has really been playing a more complete overall game," said Herenda. "I could go on and on about all of my players tonight but again, it was all about the team."