LOWELL, Mass. – Graduate student Allin Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) posted a season-high 21 points to lead four double-digit scorers and propel the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (22-7, 9-5 AE) to an 84-70 victory against Binghamton (12-14, 8-5 AE) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The River Hawks continue to make history this season, remaining perfect at home and logging their program-record ninth America East Conference win so far.
 
"This was a really good win on our home floor against a really good team," said Associate Head Coach Louis Hinnant. "We're both battling it out for playoff stakes. We all want to be able to play on our home courts in the postseason, but our guys did a great job absorbing the game plan and going out there and executing, and coming out with a W."
 
Blunt shot 6-for-12 (50%) from the floor to lead all scorers on the day. Senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) finished with 18 points and a team-high four assists, as well. Graduate student Everette Hammond (Silver Spring, Md.) chipped in with 14 points, while junior Max Brooks added 10 and a team-best eight rebounds.
 
The Bearcats tallied seven of the first nine points to start off the afternoon, but the River Hawks quickly evened the board with five straight points from Hikim. The home side knotted things up twice more before Blunt drained a three to give his squad their first lead of the afternoon, 15-13, at 13:40.
 
There were three more quick lead changes ahead of a jumper from sophomore Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) and a pair of free throws from Hammond that gave the home team a 21-18 edge at 10:51. Binghamton cut the difference to one on two occasions, but the River Hawks were able to create some breathing room with a 10-0 run that was capped off by some heads up ball movement from senior Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.), finding Blunt cutting under the hoop, to make it 36-25 with 4:47 on the clock.
 
The Bearcats continued to fight, responding with three straight treys to quickly close the gap to just a bucket again. However, the River Hawks were able to close out the half with a layup from Brooks and free throws from Blunt to head into the locker room up, 40-34.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the second, and despite the Bearcats working their way back within six, the River Hawks used an 8-2 spurt, including a one-handed jam from Brooks, to stretch the margin back to double-digits, 55-43, with 13:01 left to play.
 
Over the next five minutes, the visitors worked their way back within six, although freshman Brayden O'Connor (Ottawa, Ontario) answered with a corner trey and a massive fast-break dunk off a Hammond steal on the other end to extend the difference to 66-55 at 7:16. Binghamton then scored five in row to pull back within eight with less than two minutes remaining, but UMass Lowell was able close it out with the help of another Brooks slam inside of the final two minutes.
 
The River Hawks take their final regular-season road trip next week when they head to UMBC on February 22 for a 6 p.m. tip.