LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Allin Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) recorded his second-straight, 18-point performance to propel the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (5-2) to a 101-38 victory against Fisher (0-5) on Saturday to wrap up the first month of the 2021-22 season.
 
The River Hawks shot 71.8% (28-39) from the field in the second half to outscore the Falcons, 67-18, and secure the victory.
 
"I'm happy with the win today," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "I thought the first group that played in the second half set the right tone and played the right way, more according to our principles, and that's when we were able to stretch the lead. Getting a lot of guys opportunities to play was good and having a balanced scoring attack I thought was great. That means we're sharing the ball and everybody is getting involved."
 
With the decision, Coach Duquette earned his centennial win, marking the first 100 wins for the River Hawks at the Division I level. He became the fifth coach in program history to reach 100 victories, dating back to 1902.
 
Blunt shot 77% (7-9) to lead the way. Sophomore Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) finished with a career-best 16 points, as part of his first career double-double, while classmate Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) totaled 13. Junior Gregory Hammond (New Orleans, La.) also earned his first ever double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Blunt registered the first five points of the day for the River Hawks, but Fisher tied it up early on before the home team scored the next nine to pull ahead, 15-6, with 12:02 remaining in the first half.  
 
Hikim would lay one in to give his squad its first double-digit advantage of the contest, 20-9, at 10:17. Although the visitors were back within eight less than two minutes later, back-to-back buckets from Blunt and junior Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.) gave the River Hawks a 14-point edge late in the period, a buffer the home team was able to match at the break, heading into the locker room on top, 34-20.
 
Graduate student John Hall (Philadelphia, Pa.)opened the second half on a high note with a massive, one-handed slam, as part of a 19-4 River Hawk run that stretched the difference to 53-24 with just over 15 minutes still to play. Mincey led the way down the stretch with 14 of his 16 points coming in the final five minutes.
 
The River Hawks will kick off the month of December at home against Brown on Wednesday, December 1 at 7 p.m.