LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) recorded 12 points to lead three double-digit scorers in a 68-59 victory for the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (11-1) against St. Francis Brooklyn (4-5) on Saturday evening at the Tsongas Center.
 
The River Hawks extend their win streak to nine games with the decision, hanging onto the third longest active win streak in the country.
 
"I want to be honest with our guys, that was not a very good performance by us collectively tonight," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "Not taking away any credit from St. Francis Brooklyn. They had 16 offensive rebounds and played their tails off. Talking about my team, though, we had a lot of guys that didn't bring the energy and execution on both sides of the floor tonight. We have to be better if we want to be as good as we're talking about. We have to attack the film tomorrow and we have to own it and hold each other accountable."
 
Junior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and sophomore Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) each added 11 points on the night. Senior Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.), who followed with eight points, paced the team on the glass with six boards, while dishing out a game-high five assists.
 
The offense for both sides worked to find its rhythm in the opening minutes of the contest, and although Hikim sprinted the length of the floor for the first field goal of the evening, the teams were tied twice early in the first. However, Covington and Withers quickly found their footing from long range, combining for four straight threes to ignite a 14-2 River Hawk run that was capped off by a two-handed layup from Morris III to give the home squad a 21-9 advantage with 11:24 remaining in the first half.
 
The game slowed down, as Terriers accounted for the only four buckets in the next nine minutes. Morris III would drive to the hoop for an and-1 to snap the silence for the home team. Graduate student Allin Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) then followed with a layup before Covington knocked down another tiple from the corner in the waning seconds to send the River Hawks into the break up, 31-20.
 
Graduate student Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali) opened the scoring in the second half and although the Terriers cut the difference to single digits, Hikim converted from the field and at the line on back-to-back possessions to regain a 12-point buffer, 37-25, with 16:53 to go.
 
The Terriers worked to cut the difference in half, but Hikim struck again, making it eight straight points for the senior guard, and Coulibaly and Withers followed with layups of their own to make it 45-33, at 10:44. The visitors would be back within seven twice before junior Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) finished an and-1 to ignite a 15-7 stretch that was highlighted by a full-court pass from Withers ahead to Morris III for a massive slam, as the home team pulled away, 62-47, with less than four to play.
 
The River Hawks are back in action on Tuesday, December 13 for a 7 p.m. contest at Rhode Island.