LOWELL, Mass. – In a performance that featured a program-record seven, double-digit point scorers, the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (7-4) defeated the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (5-6), 109-45, on Saturday afternoon at Costello Athletic Center.
 
"I'm pretty happy with the win today and the way we played," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "I thought we stayed true to ourselves and our identity, and played the way we want to play on both sides of the floor. In the second half, I thought we did a better job rebounding the ball on the offensive end and that was a point of emphasis. Having 17 assists was a good number for us. It means that we're sharing the basketball, spacing the floor and generating high-percentage shots."
 
All 11 River Hawks who hit the court in the outing scored at least a basket. Junior Darion Jordan-Thomas (Upper Marlboro, Md.) logged a career-high 17 points and a season-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Classmate Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.) also registered 17 points in the outing with a personal-best five made threes. As a team, the River Hawks shot 56.8% (42-74) from the floor, including a season-high 40.9% (9-22) from beyond the arc.
 
The River Hawks started strong from long range, shooting 4-for-6 from three-point territory in the first six minutes to help build a 20-6 edge. Thomas led the way from beyond the arc in the opening minutes, while Jordan-Thomas worked the paint for a trio of buckets down low during that stretch.
 
Sophomore Anthony Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) and junior Gregory Hammond (New Orleans, La.) then knocked down back-to-back threes to cap off a 12-2 River Hawk run that extended the difference to 32-11 at 10:19.
 
The home team spaced the floor and shared the ball well in the latter half of the first, as seven different River Hawks found the basket to create a 51-22 margin at the break.
 
Sophomore Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) converted on an and-1 coming out of halftime and senior Everette Hammond (Silver Spring, Md.) added a pair of buckets of his own. The River Hawks locked in defensively and would allow just five points in the first seven minutes of the second, leading to 14 unanswered and a 77-27 buffer.
 
UMass Lowell would go onto tally the last 18 points of the day for its highest scoring output since December 7, 2018 against Maine Fort Kent.
 
The River Hawks are off for the next week for finals break, but will be back in action on Sunday, December 19 when they host Sacred Heart at the Tsongas Center at 1 p.m.