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LOWELL, Mass. – Senior DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.) scored a season-high 13 points off the bench, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (4-5) dropped an 80-60 decision against Boston University (4-5) on Thursday evening at the Tsongas Center.
 
"We dug a sizeable hole in the first half, which was probably a combination of us needing to continue to get better on defense and running into a hot-shooting, offensive team in BU," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We shot too many threes in the first half and are relying on that too heavily right now. We're a good shooting team and when we make them we can stay in games, but when we don't, it's a different result."
 
Mlachnik notched three, three-pointers in the effort for a season best. Redshirt sophomore Jahad Thomas (Williamsport, Pa.) added to the offense with eight points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Matt Harris (Erie, Pa.) chipped in with eight points, as well.
 
The Terriers won the tip and jumped out to an 8-0 lead before freshman Ryan Jones (Rio Rancho, N.M.) put the River Hawks on the board with a layup from the left side. The teams traded buckets in the next three minutes with the visitors ahead, 12-6, at 13:42 in the first half.
 
Redshirt freshman Dontavious Smith (Cullen, La.) and freshman Keith Hayes II (Little Rock, Ark.) connected on back-to-back, fast-break buckets to make it a one-possession game, but BU responded with 17 unanswered points to create a 27-10 margin with 7:21 remaining in the first.
 
Thomas snapped the silence for UMass Lowell when he banked one in from the paint, although the visitors would use eight points, including a pair of threes, to pull away 35-12 at 5:27. The River Hawks put together a quick, 6-2 spurt that was capped off by a jumper from redshirt freshman Josh Gantz (Grove City, Ohio) with three minutes to go in the period, but the Terriers took their largest lead of the half at 46-20. Freshman Isaac White (Ashland, Ohio) knocked down the home squad's first long ball of the night for the last points of the half, as BU held a 46-23 advantage at the break.
 
UMass Lowell scored the first five points coming out of halftime, thanks to a layup by Thomas and a three from the corner by Harris, cutting the difference to 18. Harris then hit another jumper from beyond the arc to spark a 7-3 River Hawk burst and make the score 52-35 with 14:22 left to go in the outing.
 
BU worked to regain a 24-point margin before freshman Logan Primerano (Peru, Ind.) dished a pass to Gantz, who pulled up for a jumper with just under nine minutes remaining. A 10-4 BU run gave the visitors their largest lead of the game, 71-43, at 5:30.
 
Mlachnik notched eight straight points for UMass Lowell to help his team outscore BU, 12-6, in the next three minutes, but the Terriers would go on to seal the 80-60 decision.
 
Boston University was led four double-digit scorers, including Cheddi Mosely, who logged a game-high 23 points with eight rebounds. John Papale recorded 17 points, while as well.
 
Thursday's contest marked the fourth meeting ever between UMass Lowell and Boston University in the sport of men's basketball. BU now leads the all-time series, 3-1. The River Hawks have a week off before returning to action on Friday, December 18 when they visit Central Connecticut State for a 7 p.m. tilt.