WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – No. 6 seeded UMass Lowell's (11-12) historic Hercules Tires America East Playoffs run has come to a close with a 64-50 setback at No. 4 Hartford (15-8) in Saturday's 2021 title game.
 
The River Hawks trailed by just three with over nine minutes remaining in the contest, but Hartford capitalized on free throw opportunities to score 10 straight points and create a double-digit buffer that would help the home team secure its first America East Championship.
 
"This was a tough game for us," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "Not because we lost. We lost to a good team, who competed hard and played well today. I just didn't think we were ourselves all game and couldn't really regain that, and I take responsibility for that. This was our first time in this position and I thought we played a little bit like we were on unfamiliar ground. Our guys played hard, I just didn't think we played comfortable, loose and free offensively. It stings, but I think it stings because we've got a group of guys, who've worked hard and committed themselves, and are all-in with UMass Lowell."
 
With the decision, UMass Lowell finishes the season with a Division I program-best .478 winning percentage. The team's three America East Playoffs wins this season also marked the first post-season victories for the program at the DI level.
 
"We just didn't put our best foot forward collectively as a group, so we're going to build on this," added Duquette. "It was an unbelievable next step for our program. We've got a good team and we've got a great core of young guys coming back, so that's the exciting part, but it doesn't ease or heal the wounds that our guys feel right now."
 
Senior Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) paced the River Hawks with 15 points. Sophomore Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.) added 11 points, while classmate Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.) led the squad on the boards with a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Even though graduate student Salif Boudie (Bamako, Mali) scored the first bucket of the day in the opening seconds, Hartford responded with 10 unanswered to pull in front. Thomas then bookended a 9-0 River Hawk spurt, snapping eight scoreless minutes and putting the visitors back on top, 11-10, with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
 
Hartford worked to regain a six-point edge, but back-to-back buckets from Noel and junior Allin Blunt (Bowie, Md.) made it a one-point game. The River Hawks were within one once more in the period at 19-18, but Hartford sunk four free throws in the final three minutes to take a 23-18 edge into the break.
 
Although the Hawks stretched their lead to seven coming into the second half, Boudie finished a second-chance layup, sparking a quick, 8-0 run that gave the River Hawks a 26-25 advantage at 17:11. The lead was short, but UMass Lowell then forced a 31-31 stalemate with a triple from freshman Anthony Blunt (Bowie, Md.) that just beat the shot clock.
 
UMass Lowell was unable to get back on top even though the team was within a bucket four more times before Hartford came up clutch on its chances from the field and at the line to put the game out of reach in those final nine minutes.

Following the title game, Noel and Withers were named to the America East All-Championship Team.