Box Score (PDF)

LOWELL, Mass. – Redshirt-junior Christian Lutete (Silver Spring, Md.) logged a game-high 26 points with 10 rebounds to help the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (9-9, 1-2 AE) defeat UMBC (9-9, 1-2 AE), 74-63, for its first America East Conference win of the season.
 
"We are thrilled with the win tonight," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "Every game is a must win as far as I'm concerned, but this one meant a little more because we haven't been off to a great start. These guys responded. They always have and I knew they would. We've got a lot of character in our locker room, so it was really nice for me to see that tonight."
 
The performance marked Lutete's league-leading sixth double-double of the year, including 21 points in the second half. Freshman Alex Rivera (Lowell, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points, while senior Shawn Jones (Bridge City, La.) added season highs of nine points and five assists of his own.
 
The offense for both sides was slow to get to work, as UMBC held just a 5-2 edge through the first four minutes, but redshirt-senior Josh Gantz (Grove City) tallied five straight points to fire up the River Hawks and spark an 11-2 spurt that gave the home squad a 13-7 advantage with 13:22 remaining in the first.
 
The Retrievers used a long ball to make it a one-possession game before UMass Lowell's defense forced almost five scoreless minutes from its opponents, allowing the home team to stretch its lead to 19-10 with nine minutes left in the period. Rivera and sophomore Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) then combined for three straight triples to give the River Hawks their first double-digit margin of the night, 28-16, at 6:43. UMBC worked to make it a three-point game once again with an 11-2 stretch of their own, but the River Hawks tallied six of the last eight points to take a 36-29 buffer into the break.
 
Henderson tallied the first bucket for the home squad coming out of halftime, and although the Retrievers stayed within eight for six minutes, another three from Rivera and a layup from Lutete extended the difference to 45-34 at 12:27. The visitors were back within single digits before a 9-2 River Hawk run was capped off by Rivera's fourth three of the contest for the 54-40 upper hand at 9:09.
 
The teams combined for 10 free throws in the next three minutes without a field goal for either side until Lutete beat the shot clock with a long three to snap the silence and give UMass Lowell its largest lead of the night, 61-46, with 5:30 left to go. The Retrievers cut the deficit to eight in the final minutes, but Lutete and Jones closed out the scoring for the River Hawks to secure the 74-63 victory.
 
UMass Lowell now owns a 7-5 lead in the all-time series against UMBC. The River Hawks will remain at home to take on UAlbany on Wednesday, January 16 beginning at 7 p.m.