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LOWELL, Mass. – Freshmen Matt Harris (Erie, Pa.) and Lance Crawford (Davie, Fla.) posted career highs of 21 and 18 points, respectively, to lead the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (10-13, 4-6) to a 67-51 victory against UMBC (3-19, 1-8) on Thursday evening.
 
With the win, the River Hawks snap a five-game skid, in addition to matching their total number of wins from last season.
 
"We're really happy to break our losing streak and get a win here at home tonight," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "I don't think we played well in the first several minutes, but after that we settled down and did a good job at both ends of the floor. It's no secret how small we are, so we really have to guard the post collectively as a team, and we did a much better job in the last 30 minutes. Offensively, we had some great ball movement in the second half. We kept the floor spaced and our guys knew exactly what we were trying to execute. They drove the lane, they shared the basketball and were able to get some good looks so we could open the game up."
 
Harris, who also helped pace the team on the glass with five rebounds, tallied a personal-best eight field goals in his first 20-point outing. He led a bench that outscored that of the Retrievers, 34-4.
 
UMass Lowell was quick to log the first points of the game on a three by senior Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.), but UMBC answered with nine straight points to take an early advantage. Harris responded for the River Hawks with five consecutive points to make it a one-possession game at 11-8.
 
The Retrievers led by as many as six twice more before junior DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.) drained a three from the top of the key and Harris followed with a jumper to cut the difference to one at 20-19 with 10:56 remaining in the first half. Crawford then knocked down a long ball to knot the score for the first time, 22-22, at 9:03.
 
The home team took its first lead since the opening minute of play at 30-26 thanks to a layup by sophomore Tyler Livingston (Hudson, N.H.) and a three-pointer by Harris with 3:34 to play in the period. UMBC would put together an 8-3 spurt in the waning minutes, but Harris hit the last shot of the half to take a slight, 35-34 edge into the break.
 
Although the Retrievers scored first coming out of halftime, freshman Brad Schaub (Marlette, Mich.) banked in a field goal and graduate student Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) converted from long range to help the River Hawks pull ahead, 41-36. UMBC closed the gap to one before UMass Lowell used 18-2 run during a nine-minute span to take a 59-42 advantage with 5:07 left to play.
 
In the final minutes of play, the River Hawks extended their margin to as many as 20 before sealing the 67-51 decision.
 
UMass Lowell shot 46.2% (24-52) from the floor, including 40.9% (9-22) from three-point territory. Malcolm Brent and Cody Joyce led the Retrievers with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
 
Thursday's contest marked the fourth meeting ever between UMass Lowell and UMBC in the sport of men's basketball. The River Hawks now lead the all-time series, 4-0. UMass Lowell has a quick turnaround, as the team travels to UAlbany for a 7:30 p.m. tilt on Saturday, February 7.