Box Score (PDF)

LOWELL, Mass. – In a game that featured 12 lead changes, graduate student Christian Lutete (Silver Spring, Md.) totaled a game-high 24 points, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (2-3) dropped an 80-78 heartbreaker against Jacksonville (2-2) to open the inaugural River Hawk Invitational on Friday.
 
"This was a good, hard-fought college basketball game tonight," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "It's good to play at home in front of a nice crowd. It's just disappointing. We did see some really good things tonight. We had a chance to win it. We fought back, but they just made too many three-point shots. They had timely rebounds down the stretch, but it was really their three-point shooting."
 
Lutete also led both sides with nine rebounds in the outing. Four other River Hawks also scored in double-figures on the night, including graduate student Josh Gantz (Grove City, Ohio), who added 15 points, and freshman Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.), who logged a season-high 14 points. Juniors Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) and Jordyn Owens (Montclair, N.J.) chipped in with 11 points apiece, marking a new personal-best for Owens.
 
Jacksonville opened the scoring before Lutete's put-back layup sparked an 11-2 run that gave the River Hawks an 11-6 advantage with 15:44 remaining in the first half. The Dolphins worked to close the gap to just one, but Gantz knocked down a triple to make it 17-13 at 8:30.
 
The visitors put together a 10-2 spurt to jump in front and although Owens hit a three to make it a one-point game, JU used back-to-back long balls to stretch the lead to 29-22 at 4:16. The River Hawks would battle back, though, with eight of the next 10 points and with just 1.8 seconds on the clock, Lutete beats the buzzer on the inbound play with a long two to cut the difference to 36-34 at the break.
 
Coming out of halftime, the River Hawks evened the board three times, including once on a wide open three from sophomore Allin Blunt (Bowie, Md.) before Gantz drained a three to put the home squad on top, 46-45, with 14:47 left to play. Jacksonville followed with seven in a row and maintained the upper hand until Noel and Owens sunk consecutive threes to regain the lead, 59-57, at 9:51.
 
The teams continued to fight with four more stalemates, the last of which was at 78-78 thanks to a Lutete layup with just 18 seconds on the clock. However, the deciding points came at the foul line in the final seconds, as Jacksonville sealed the 80-78 outcome.
 
The River Hawks are back in action tomorrow when the tournament continues with a game against Merrimack beginning at 4 p.m.