Box Score

Junior G Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass.) continued to build on his incredible season, netting 24 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Still, Franklin Pierce was too much for UMass Lowell as the River Hawks fell, 94-85, in a conference game at the Costello Athletic Center on Saturday night.
 
The loss brings UMass Lowell to 14-11 overall and 10-11 in conference play. The River Hawks will travel to Bentley for the regular season finale on Tuesday, February 26 (7:30).
 
Franklin Pierce improves to 19-6 overall on the season and 16-5 in the Northeast-10. The Ravens host Merrimack on February 26 (7:30).
 
After a hot start from Williams, UMass Lowell took control of the game, building up a 19-point lead with 5:40 remaining in the first half. Williams tallied 15 points by halftime on 6-10 shooting, including 3-6 from deep.
 
The Ravens were able to cut into that lead after an 11-2 run ended the half. Franklin Pierce junior F Adrianos Vourliotakis knocked down a jumper to make the score 49-43 with just 35 seconds left in the half.
 
Vourliotakis finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists.
 
However, on the very next possession, UMass Lowell junior F Antonio Bivins (Miami, Fla.) responded with a buzzer-beater put-back off a missed jumper from sophomore G Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.), bringing UMass Lowell's lead to eight at the break.
 
Bivins finished with a strong stat line, racking up 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Holley finished the game with seven points and three assists.

"We played arguably the best first sixteen minutes of basketball since I've been the coach here," said UMass Lowell head coach, Greg Herenda. "But give credit to Franklin Pierce, they never got flustered and stayed the course."
 
The second half was all Franklin Pierce. The Ravens wasted no time erasing the deficit, opening the final half on a 9-0 run. To cap off the run, Senior G Eric Jean-Guillaume hit a three-pointer that gave Franklin Pierce its first lead of the game.
 
Jean-Guillaume had a game high 32 points on 9-17 shooting. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
 
Jean-Guillaume wasn't the only one scoring for the Ravens. Sophomore F Ryen Vilmont added 15 points and four rebounds, while junior F Ellis Cooper totaled 18 points and eight boards.
 
UMass Lowell and Franklin Pierce went back and forth in the second half, but Cooper was able to put back his own miss with just two minutes to go, giving the Ravens a six-point lead.
 
Despite the loss, UMass Lowell got a solid performance from its seniors in their final regular season home game. Gr. G Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting and senior F Romeo Diaz (Methuen, Mass.) turned in six points and six rebounds before fouling out in the second half.
 
The River Hawks shot 57.4% (35-61) from the floor, while Franklin Pierce shot 51.7% (30-58). However, the biggest discrepancy came from the free-throw line, where the Ravens went 29-32 to UMass Lowell's 5-9.