Box Score (PDF)

LOWELL, Mass. – The second half proved to be the difference in a hard-fought, 75-63 setback for the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (8-8, 0-1 AE) against Stony Brook (13-3, 1-0 AE) on Saturday afternoon.
 
Three different River Hawks tallied 13 points in the outing, including senior Ryan Jones (Rio Rancho, N.M.), redshirt- junior Christian Lutete (Silver Spring, Md.) and sophomore Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.). Lutete also paced the team on the boards with eight rebounds. Redshirt-senior Josh Gantz (Grove City, Ohio) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, while chipping in with four assists.
 
"We couldn't make a shot today," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We haven't shot this poorly all season, and when you do that against a good team and give them as many opportunities as we did, you're not going to beat them. I didn't think we took bad shots, they were good looks, we shared the ball and made the right plays. We just didn't make shots, so I can't fault my guys for that, as long as the effort is there."
 
Gantz drained a three for the first points of the day, and although the Seawolves built a two-possession margin early, Lutete scored on back-to-back trips down the court to give the lead back to his squad at 12-11 with 14:17 remaining in the first.
 
The teams were locked in a closely-contested battle for the remainder of the period, trading baskets with 11 more lead changes and four tied scores. However, the River Hawks tallied six of the last eight points, including a jumper and free throw from freshman Bryce Daley (Pittsfield, Mass.) inside of 1:30 to go to give the home squad a 33-31 advantage heading into the break.
 
Stony Brook converted at the line coming out of halftime to erase the difference and knot the score once again, this time at 33-33. Jones put the home squad back on top with a mid-range jumper, but the Seawolves followed with a quick, 7-0 spurt to match their largest lead yet, 40-35, with 16:31 still to play.
 
UMass Lowell answered with a run of its own, though, as freshman Allin Blunt (Bowie, Md.) sparked eight straight to give his team a three-point buffer. But Stony Brook would come from behind once again, and despite the River Hawks making it a one-point game with 12 minutes remaining, the Seawolves kept the upper hand and stretched their margin to double-digits for the first time, 60-50, at 8:17. Noel and Gantz combined for seven consecutive points to cut the different to just three with four minutes to go, but SBU used free throws down the stretch to secure the 75-63 outcome.   
 
Akwasi Yeboah led Stony Brook with a game-high 19 points. The Seawolves now own a 14-5 advantage in the all-time series. The River Hawks will head to New Hampshire for their next matchup on Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m.