LOWELL, Mass. – Junior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) finished with a game-high 18 points to lead six double-digit scorers for the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (4-1) in a 105-53 victory against Emerson (1-3) on Saturday.
"I'm happy with the second half for sure," said Head Coach
Pat Duquette. "We came out a different team in the second half, more disciplined, defended on the ball and pressured them. They played too comfortably in the first half and we gave up too many points. I really like their starting five. Coach Curley has down a good job there and they gave us all we could handle in the first. We turned up the defense in the second half, but we need to be way more consistent and do that throughout the game."
Brooks logged his seventh career double-double on the night, adding 11 rebounds. Juniors Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre Pa.) and Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 13 points apiece, while graduate student
Allin Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) totaled 11. Junior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) chipped in with 10 points in his UMass Lowell debut, and senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10, as well.
As a team, the River Hawks shot a season-best 63.5% (40-63) from the floor, including 75% shooting in the second half. With the decision, the River Hawks improve to 3-0 at home so far this season.
Early threes gave the Lions a lead in the opening minutes of the contest, but a layup by Brooks and a long jumper by senior Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.) quickly evened the board. The visitors led by as many as three on two occasions as the River Hawks settled in, but the home side used a 10-0 run to pull ahead, 19-12, with 10:57 remaining in the first half.
Sharp shooting from beyond the arc by Trevor Arico helped the Lions cut the difference to just one, 28-27, at 6:14. However, Blunt sunk a pair of free throws and hit from deep to spark a 9-2 spurt that made it a two-possession game. Covington then drained the River Hawks' final bucket of the half to give his squad a 41-37 edge at the break.
Blunt opened the second-half scoring, and although Emerson was able to stay within seven in the early minutes, the River Hawks ignited for a stretch of 24 unanswered that was capped off by a pair of triples from graduate student Mikey Watkins (Roselle, N.J.) to propel the guard past 1,000 career points and give his team a 71-42 advantage with less than 11 minutes to play.
The River Hawks continued their hot, second-half shooting in the waning minutes, outscoring the opposition, 22-4, in the final 6:20, as dunks from Mincey, Covington and senior Darion Jordan-Thomas (Brockton, Mass.) electrified the home crowd.
Next up, the River Hawks head to Brown for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, November 23.
