BALTIMORE, Md. -- The UMass Lowell men's basketball thrilling season continues as the River Hawks took down top-seeded UMBC in the America East semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the UMBC Event Center.

The No. 6 River Hawks' 79-77 victory propels them to the America East championship game, where they will face the No. 4 Hartford on Saturday, March 13.

"It was an awesome playoff basketball game regardless of who won today," commented head coach Pat Duquette. "There were major ups and downs, huge shots and big plays today. It's the first time we've been through it, part of the enjoyment is getting to a place we've never been before."

Sophomore Connor Withers (Manassas,Va.) and senior Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) each turned in 20+ point performances en route to the River Hawks come-from-behind victory.

Withers tallied a career-high 28 points on nine made threes, matching the tournament record, while Noel picked up 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting in the paint, in addition to chipping in with four assists. Sophomore Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.) rounded out the double-digit point scorers with 10, respectively.

The sides alternated baskets to begin the contest with the River Hawks taking a slight edge 5-4 following Withers' first triple of the day, but the Retrievers would score the next 16 of 20 points to create a 20-9 buffer with 12:12 remaining in the first half.

Continuing their run, UMBC would use another spurt to extend their lead 27-11 just under the 10-minute mark, however freshman Anthony Blunt (Bowie, Md.) would use a solo 5-0 run backed by a Noel triple to cut the gap to single digits, 27-19 at 6:01. However, the Retrievers answered with 13 more in the waning minutes of the period, to send the River Hawks into the break trailing, 40-28.

The River Hawks would open the second half by cutting the lead back to single digits with help from a Noel jumper and Withers three-pointer, but the Retrievers would turn and go on a 7-2 spurt to extend their lead to a game-high 16. The visitors would begin to chip away, though, beginning with two buckets each from Withers and Thomas.
 
UMass Lowell would then continue the attack with makes by Noel, and Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) and Bryce Daley (Pittsfield, Mass.) on the fast break to bring the deficit back into the single digits. The teams would trade baskets past the halfway mark in the half, but the River Hawks' persistence would amount to a 19-8 run over the span of 6 minutes to come within 3 points of the No. 1 Retrievers.
 
The tides would turn with 3:43 remaining in the contest, with Thomas draining his second three-pointer of the game to give the visitors their first tie since 19:07 in the first half. The teams began another back-and-forth exchange, with the Retrievers' star Darnell Rogers scoring five unanswered points. The Retrievers would ultimately not have an answer for the River Hawks' leading scorer, though, as Withers would land his record-tying ninth triple of the game to even the score again, 76-76.
 
Noel would then afford UMass Lowell its first lead since 18:16 in the first half, by sinking two free throws to give the visitors a 78-76 edge. The Retrievers would subsequently make it to the line, but E.J. Eytle-Rock would miss the backend of a 1-and-1. Withers would seal his career-high at 29 as well as the River Hawks' first-ever trip to the America East Championship game with a final free-throw to make the score 79-77.