Box Score

LOWELL, Mass. (December 1, 2013) – The UMass Lowell men's basketball team picked up its first win of their season Sunday, beating Mt. Ida College 73-45 at Costello Athletic Center.

The win marks not only the first for the River Hawks (1-6, 0-0 America East) but also for first-year Head Coach Pat Duquette.

The River Hawks started the game on an 18-8 run over the Mustangs (1-4, 0-0 GNAC) and never looked back as the team made a season-high 13 attempts from 3-point range, including six from distance to start the game.

"It's a great feeling. This team hasn't experienced that yet this year so I don't want to underestimate that," said Duquette. "The gauge is something other than wins and losses for us no matter what side we're on. We've told our guys that it's important how we play and the progress we make each night. Not only was I happy that we won tonight, but I feel like we made good progress in the way we executed."

UMass Lowell shot well from distance in the first half, firing at 55% from 3-point range with 11 of the team's 13 first-half field goals coming from downtown.

Sophomore G DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.) led all scorers with 17 points as the sharpshooter netted 5 of 9 three-point attempts. Mlachnik also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Senior Akeem Williams (Brockton, MA) finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field while connecting on 3-5 from distance.

Coming off a loss to the University of Cincinnati the River Hawks took better care of the ball and won the turnover battle resulting in 15-5 advantage for UMass Lowell and a more fluid offensive tempo.

Junior G Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) played facilitator for the offense finishing with six points and seven assists in just 23 minutes of action.

"It's a different type of challenge and people expect you to win but you still have to go out there and produce," said Duquette. "Offensively we had 22 assists and that's a great sign to how you're executing on offense."

Junior G Everett Ramirez led Mount Ida with 14 points and five rebounds as he converted 4-7 attempts from long range.

The River Hawks prepare for a busy week as they travel to play St. Bonaventure Tuesday night at 7 P.M.