LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman Brayden O'Connor (Ottawa, Ontario) had a breakout game with a team- and season-high 14 points to help propel the No. 2 seeded UMass Lowell men's basketball team (25-7) to an 85-54 victory against No. 7 Maine (13-17) in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Jersey Mike's America East Playoffs at Costello Athletic Center on Saturday.
 
With the victory, the River Hawks remain undefeated (16-0) at home this season. The team will advance to the league's semifinals for just the second time, but has earned the right to host at Costello for the first time in program history. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, March 6 at 11 a.m. in-person at the Tsongas Center Box Office or online.
 
"This was a great night, a historic night for many reasons," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "First home playoff game and we played great in front of a great crowd. We're playing really good basketball right now. This is five games in a row where we've played about as well as we can, not perfect, but very good on both sides of the ball. It starts on defense for us, it always has. We're getting contributions from everybody and our bench was huge tonight. We just have to stay who we are, stay hungry and stay connected, and it's going to take a really good team to beat us right now."
 
O'Connor was one of four double-digit scorers for UMass Lowell in the outing. Graduate student Everette Hammond (Silver Spring, Md.) added 13 points and five assists. Seniors Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali) chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively, as well. Junior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) paced the team on the boards with seven rebounds. As a team, the River Hawks shot 57.4% from the field with 37 points off the bench.
 
Hikim drove to the hoop on the opening possession, but defense controlled the early minutes, as the squads combined to force seven turnovers in the first four minutes. O'Connor, sophomore Cam Morris III and graduate student Mikey Watkins (Roselle, N.J.) came off the bench to provide a spark for the River Hawk offense, though, putting together an 11-2 run to create a 15-8 advantage with 12:11 remaining in the first half.
 
Maine's Gedi Juozapaitis slowed the momentum briefly with a bucket for the visitors, but UMass Lowell fired right back with 10 unanswered, including a big three from graduate student Allin Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) to pull ahead by double-digits for the first time in the contest, 25-10, at 9:33. Three minutes later, Brooks laid one in ahead of a triple from junior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) to make it a 20-point game. The teams traded baskets in the waning minutes of the period and Hammond drained a corner trey in the final seconds to give his side a 44-26 edge at the break.
 
The River Hawks continued to pressure coming out of the locker room, tallying eight of the first 10 points with the help of a Brooks dunk. Hikim and Coulibaly then each tallied a bucket before Hammond hit on his team's next two trips down the court, putting the home squad on top, 60-32, with 14:32 left to play.
 
Maine responded with a 10-3 spurt, but Hammond dished to Brooks for a two-handed slam to stop the attack. A late, 13-3 River Hawk run sparked by back-to-back buckets from Coulibaly, would then seal the outcome.
 
The River Hawks' semifinal opponent for Tuesday, March 7 at 6 p.m. at Costello will be determined later this evening.