WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Graduate student Christian Lutete (Silver Spring, Md.) and junior Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) each logged 23 points, as the No. 6 UMass Lowell men's basketball team (13-19) fell, 89-75, at No. 3 Hartford (17-15) in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Hercules Tires America East Playoffs.
 
"I thought Hartford was good tonight," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We were fortunate to beat them on their home floor a month ago. It took a heck of an effort. I thought our guys played hard tonight, especially to get back in the first half. We got off to a bad start and dug ourselves into a hole, but we fought back and tied it at halftime."
 
Although the teams were tied at the break, Hartford outscored the River Hawks, 51-37, in the second, led by 20 points after the half from Malik Ellison. Ellison totaled a game-high 26 points on 10 field goals.
 
"I thought Ellison was almost unstoppable," added Duquette. "We were trying to double team him, but a lot of times, the double team couldn't get there in time, he was that good. So credit to Hartford, I thought they played well and deserved to win."
 
Noel shot 8-for-10 from the foul line in the contest. Freshman Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the River Hawks with 10 points. Graduate student Josh Gantz (Grove City, Ohio) chipped in with three assists and six points.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the game and were even three times before Hartford put together a 12-2 run coming out of the first media timeout to pull ahead, 18-8 with 11:40 remaining in the first half.
 
Lutete broke up the spurt with a triple from the wing, and although the home team would stretch its buffer as far as 13, back-to-back threes from Noel and freshman Ron Mitchell (Philadelphia, Pa.) ignited a 14-3 River Hawk run that put the visitors within a bucket, 28-26, at 6:02. Hartford was able to regain a two-possession lead, but Lutete followed with six straight points and freshman Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.) added his first triple of the night to give UMass Lowell the upper hand for the first time, 36-33, with less than two minutes to go in the period. However, Hartford tallied five of the last seven points before the break to knot the score at 38-38 at the half.
 
Hartford outscored UMass Lowell, 12-3, to begin the second. Gantz snapped three minutes of silence for the River Hawks, though, ahead of a triple from Thomas to make it a two-possession game, 53-47, with 15:13 left to play.
 
The River Hawks were back within six on three occasions, including at 63-57 thanks to free throws by Gantz, but were unable to come any closer, as an 11-1 Hartford stretch secured the win in the final minutes.
 
UMass Lowell closes 2019-20 with a 13-19 overall record, marking the program's second most single-season wins at the Division I level.