LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) led six double-digit scorers with a season-high 23 points, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (9-4) closed out its non-conference slate with a 116-48 win against Emerson (3-8) at Costello Athletic Center on New Year's Eve.
 
"We were glad to be home in Costello where we feel most comfortable and love to play," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We made a lot of good plays today and scored a lot of points. We had 29 assists, so that means we're sharing the ball and making the right plays. We had a lot of good contributions from everybody. I think we continue to get better and I think we're in a good place mentally heading into league play."
 
Brooks, who shot an incredible 10-for-11 (90.9%) from the field, added a season-high 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Senior Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) chipped in with a career-high 18 points, including 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Junior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) added 16 points for his sixth straight double-digit scoring game, while senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) followed with 14, and senior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and junior Andres Fulgencio (Englewood, N.J.) rounded out the 10-point scorers with 13 apiece.
 
The River Hawks jumped out to an early advantage, as buckets from Brooks bookended a fastbreak layup from sophomore Brayden O'Connor (Ottawa, Ontario) and a triple from Covington. The Lions were able to get on the board, but Covington knocked down another three and Hikim added a quick, step-back trey of his own to give the home team a 15-4 edge with 15:54 remaining in the first half.
 
Morris III worked to find an open lane with a string of dunks and Mincey kept the threes falling to stretch the difference to 24-11 at 12:32. The Lions cut the difference to 10 with a three of their own, but the River Hawks followed with a 16-1 run that was capped off by five straight points from Mincey to create a 43-17 advantage with less than seven minutes to go in the period. The teams then traded baskets before UMass Lowell ran down the clock with another scoring spurt, this time 10-2, ahead of a Morris III three to close the half and send the home team into the break on top, 58-29.
 
Coming out of halftime, the River Hawks continued to light up the scoreboard with the first 10 points of the second, including five from Morris III. The Lions chipped into the deficit with seven of the next nine points, but UMass Lowell locked down on defense and scored 24 straight points. Mincey and Brooks each tallied seven to lead that stretch, and freshman Anthony Maxwell (Montréal, Québec) closed it out with a driving layup to make it 94-36 with 10 minutes to play.
 
Emerson broke its silence, but not for long, as Fulgencio ignited a run of 20 more points in the waning minutes en route to the 116-48 victory.
 
The River Hawks will open America East Conference play on the road at New Hampshire on Saturday, January 6 at 12 p.m.