Box Score

Junior G Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass.) led the all scorers with 31 points as UMass Lowell defeated Saint Anselm, 91-88, in a Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball game in Manchester, N.H.
 
The win brings UMass Lowell to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The River Hawks are back in action on Saturday, Dec.8 when they will travel to play Franklin Pierce (3:30).
 
Saint Anselm falls to 5-2 overall on the season and 3-2 in the Northeast-10. The Hawks will travel to Saint Michael's on Dec. 6 (7:30).
 
The River Hawks needed their starters in this one, as the bench only managed four points on the night. However, the River Hawks rose to the occasion. Junior G Antonio Bivins (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore G Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) each had 22 points. Bivins converted 10 of 15 field goal attempts while Holley shot 7-10 from the field and 5-6 from 3-point range.

"That was a great college basketball game," said head coach Greg Herenda. "We just competed until the buzzer sounded. It was a tremendous conference road win.

"Akeem and Chad played incredibly well together," he added. "Antonio took it to another level in the second half.

Bivins scored 18 of his points in the second half.
 
Freshman F Mike McCahey led the Hawks with 18 points. Sophomore G Rob Mabrey also chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
 
The game was a back and forth affair from the beginning. Senior G James Morse put the Hawks up by 5 early with a three-pointer. The River Hawks would answer back with a Williams three and a lay up from freshman F Kennedy Chukwuocha (Willingboro, N.J.), putting UMass Lowell ahead 8-7.
 
The River Hawks led by just one point with less than three minutes to go in the first half, but Bivins got a lay up to fall in the final minute, giving UMass Lowell a 42-39 lead at the break.

Things didn't get any easier in the second half. There were four lead changes in the final five minutes, but the River Hawks eventually took the lead for good when Chad Holley banked home a three-pointer, putting UMass Lowell up 86-84.

"Not many people come off this court with a win," Herenda added. "We had to play every second on the clock to do that tonight."
 
The Saint Anselm bench was able to outscore UMass Lowell 31-4, but the River Hawks shot 52.4% from the floor (33-63), while Saint Anselm shot just 45.1% (32-71).