Box Score

Sophomore G Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) scored 20 points and junior F Antonio Bivins (Miami, Fla.) had 19 points and 12 rebounds as UMass Lowell defeated American International, 73-68, Wednesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball tilt at the Butova Gymnasium.

The win was UMass Lowell's third in four games as it improved to 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the NE-10 entering Saturday's home clash with Southern Connecticut (4:00).

AIC slipped to 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the NE-10.

Holley converted 5 of 8 field goal attempts (3-5 from 3-point range) and 7-8 free throw attempts. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists.

Bivins meshed 8-11 field goal attempts and matched his season-high in rebounds. Freshman F Kennedy Chukwuocha (Willingboro, N.J.) chipped in season-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-10 field goal shooting.

Junior G Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass.) had 10 points.

“That was an old-school conference road win,” said head coach Greg Herenda. “We made our shots early and our defense was consistent all night. Kennedy and Antonio were very efficient offensively and our guards did a really good job of running the offense.”

Junior G Janek Schmidkunz led AIC with 15 points (6-12 field goals) while senior F Sesoo Ikpah added 13 points (4-6 field goals). Junior F David Campbell had 12 points and 10 rebounds while senior G Ricky Hudson also had 12 points.

UMass Lowell shot .520 for the game (26-50) while AIC struggled to a .368 clip (21-57). The River Hawks also outrebounded AIC, 41-29, and, led by Bivins and Chukwuocha, outscored the Yellow Jackets in the paint, 26-14.

UMass Lowell ended the first half with a 22-5 run and never looked back as Holley led the run with eight points while Chukwuocha and Williams each had five points.

“When Chad Holley goes, so does our offense,” Herenda noted. “He opened up the game and gave us some breathing room in the first half.”

Early in the second half, AIC trailed 45-31, but scored seven straight points led by a trey and a jump shot by Schmidkunz, to cut the deficit to 45-38 with 14:35 left to play.

UMass Lowell, however, maintained its composure and responded with a 14-3 run of its own – led by a 3-point shot, dunk and layup in succession by Chukwuocha – to post a 59-41 cushion with 8:49 to play.