Box Score

The UMass Lowell men's basketball team stormed back from a double-digit deficit to get their first win against a Division I opponent and also clinched their first America East conference win, defeating UMBC 59-54 at the Costello Athletic Center.
 
The River Hawks (2-11, 1-1 AE) snapped a five game losing streak, getting significant help from a trio of seniors led by Akeem Williams (Brockton, MA), Kerry Weldon (New York, N.Y.) and Antonio Bivins (Miami, FL) who made his season debut.
 
"Obviously we're all super excited, it's a historic moment in UMass Lowell men's basketball history, our first division-I win," said first year Head Coach Pat Duquette. "These guys have persevered a lot over the last few months. We've had a brutal travel schedule and played tough opponents, so it's a testament to their perseverance, they stayed together and fought through a lot of tough times so they deserve this feeling today, so I'm happy for them."
 
UMBC came out of the gates swinging, scoring the first 15 points of the game before the River Hawks went on a 15-6 run of their own. UMass Lowell would close the half on a 9-2 and headed into the break ahead 34-31.
 
Williams scored a game-high 18 points and added three rebounds and four assists. The guard did most of his damage in the opening half dropping 13 points by intermission on 3-of-7 shooting from the field while staying a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.
 
The River Hawks got a boost off the bench with Bivins' return to action. Bivins, a Northeast-10 All-Conference Third Team member a year ago dropped in 14 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes of time.
 
Weldon finished with seven points and a season-high 10 rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end. The River Hawks big-man had a chance to make it a two-possession game with 30 seconds left but missed the pair, making up for it on the defensive end by grabbing the rebound off a game-tying three-point attempt by UMBC in the final seconds.
 
With the win the River Hawks extended the Retrievers road woes as they now drop to 0-9 on the road. UMBC came into the contest averaging 70.2 points per game but were held to just 54 against the stout UMass Lowell defense.
 
Freshman forward Tyler Livingston (Hudson, N.H.) was the third River Hawk to reach double-figures scoring 10 points to go with four rebounds.
 
The River Hawks tied a team-high in free throw attempts, getting to the line 15 times in the first half and finished the game making 21-of-28.
 
The River Hawks will be back in action Saturday January 11, when they travel to Binghamton University to take on the Bearcats at 4:30 pm.