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LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Tyler Livingston (Hudson, N.H.) notched a career-high 27 points and seven three-pointers, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (2-5) dropped a hard-fought, 82-78 overtime decision against LIU Brooklyn (5-1) at the Tsongas Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
"It's disappointing to lose today," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "I thought it was a good college basketball game with two good teams out there. LIU has already had a lot of success this year and it was going to take a good, collective effort to beat them. For the most part, we did that, but I thought we lost control of the game about midway through the second half by turning the ball over. That was the story for us."
 
Livingston also posted a personal-best 10 field goals in the outing, while totaling a team-high six rebounds. Redshirt-junior Jahad Thomas (Williamsport, Pa.) added season-highs of eight field goals and 21 points, as well. As a team, UMass Lowell had their best game from the floor so far, shooting 53.8 percent (28-52).
 
The River Hawks' offense went to work quickly, as a pair of threes from Livingston opened the scoring and helped the squad jump out to an 8-3 edge. LIU Brooklyn knotted the score once at 8-8 before baskets from sophomore Isaac White (Ashland, Ohio) and Livingston gave the home squad a two-possession advantage at 15-11 with 14:48 remaining in the first half.
 
Later in the first, the Blackbirds put together an 11-2 stretch that made the score 30-23 in favor of the visitors at 7:50.  However, Livingston was able to hit his fourth long ball of the contest, sparking a 10-2 run to regain the upper hand for the River Hawks at 33-32 with 4:52 left in the half. The squads continued their fast-paced battle with two stalemates, but sophomore Ryan Jones (Rio Rancho, N.M.) went 2-for-2 at the line and Livingston drained one more jumper from long range in the waning seconds, giving UMass Lowell a 44-38 buffer at the break.
 
Back-to-back buckets from White and Thomas helped the home team pull ahead by its largest margin at 53-44 in the opening minutes of the second half. The Blackbirds retaliated with eight straight points to cut the deficit back to just one, but Thomas and freshman Cameron Wolter (Fishers, Ind.) banked in back-to-back buckets to put their team on top, 57-52, with 9:31 still to play.
 
LIU Brooklyn kept the pressure on with a 10-2 run that gave the visitors their first lead in almost 20 minutes of play at 62-59 with less than six minutes to go. Harris would then tie the score twice in the last three minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime. The River Hawks never led in the extra period, though, as LIU Brooklyn built a six-point edge. Livingston hit his last three and Thomas added a free throw in the final seconds to make it a three-point game, but one final free throw helped the Blackbirds hold on for the 82-78 outcome.
                                                                                                                                      
Saturday's contest marked just the second meeting ever between UMass Lowell and LIU Brooklyn in the sport of men's basketball. The Blackbirds now lead the all-time series, 2-0. The River Hawks return to action on Tuesday, November 29 when they visit Marist for a 7 p.m. tilt.