Box Score
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BANGOR, Maine – Redshirt-freshman Jahad Thomas (Williamsport, Pa.) and senior Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) logged 15 and 14 points, respectively, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (9-8, 3-1) edged past the University of Maine (1-15, 0-4) for a 62-59 victory on Tuesday.
 
"I'm happy for our team to get out of here with a win tonight," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "Road wins in the America East are not easy to come by, and we did it with a lot of young guys on the floor. We were shorthanded, missing three key players, but I'm really proud of the way my guys battled tonight. I thought Maine played well, and they made it difficult for us. We've been outrebounded pretty much every game, and that was the story tonight, but we kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance to win."  
 
The River Hawks trailed for over 21 minutes in the contest, but forced five lead changes and took the lead for good late in the second half. Thomas also paced the team on the glass with eight rebounds, and added personal bests with seven assists and five steals. Holley's 14 points were good for a season high, as well.
 
The Black Bears opened the game with seven consecutive points before Thomas fed freshman Brad Schaub (Marlette, Mich.) down low to put the River Hawks on the board. The visitors made it a one-point game, but back-to-back Black Bear baskets gave the home team a 12-6 lead with 14:25 remaining in the first half.
 
Maine maintained at least a four-point edge until Holley knocked down a three from the top of the key to spark a 13-2 run, which included eight points from sophomore Tyler Livingston (Hudson, N.H.), giving the River Hawks their first lead of the night, 23-19, at 9:07.  
 
The home squad followed with a 10-point spurt, regaining the upper hand at 31-25 with less than five minutes left in the first. However, Holley would find the basket three times for UMass Lowell in the waning minutes of the period, while Thomas added a layup in the final seconds to send the teams into the break knotted at 34-34.
 
After almost three minutes of play, the Black Bears broke the stalemate and led by five on two occasions before Holley converted a pair of free throws and Livingston drained a turn-around jumper, giving the River Hawks a 48-45 advantage at 10:43.  
 
The back-and-forth battle continued, as Maine used a pair of threes to pull ahead once again with just over nine minutes to play, although UMass Lowell answered with a 9-1 run to take over for good at 57-52 with 5:11 remaining. The Black Bears managed to make it just a one-point game twice more, including in the final seconds, but the River Hawks held on for the 62-59 decision.
 
Livingston rounded out the double-digit scorers for the River Hawks with 13 points. As a team, UMass Lowell shot 81.8% (9-11) on free throws. 
 
The Black Bears' Zarko Valjarevic led all scorers with 23 points. Till Gloger and Garet Beal added 14 and 10 points, respectively. As a whole, Maine shot 45.8% (22-48) from the field, including 40.0% (10-25) from three-point range.
 
Tuesday's contest marked the fifth meeting between UMass Lowell and Maine in the sport of men's basketball. The River Hawks now lead the all-time series, 4-1. UMass Lowell continues its three-game road swing on Saturday, January 17 at Hartford beginning at 7 p.m.