LOWELL, Mass. – Fifth year
Max Brooks logged a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds to help push the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (5-2) past Merrimack (1-5) in a hard-fought, 81-74 victory at Costello Athletic Center on Monday evening.
"Another good win against a non-traditional zone," said Head Coach
Pat Duquette. "I thought the Quinnipiac zone on Saturday helped prepare us for this, but this is a different, unique type of zone and clearly, in the first half, we struggled a little bit with it. We got comfortable later in the game and got the ball where we needed to get to. I'm just happy that we weathered the storm and kept our composure, and never got rattled even though we didn't shoot the ball well in the first half. We're a deeper team than we showed tonight, but because of the style they play, I felt that was our best chance, so I'm looking forward to going to Saint Louis and starting to play more traditional, man-to-man defense so we can extend our lineup and play more guys that are deserving."
The River Hawks overcame eight tied scores and four lead changes en route to the decision. Brooks added three assists and three blocks to his 16
th career double-double to help the team remain unbeaten at home this season. Fifth year
Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) chipped in with 14 points, while classmate
Anthony Blunt (Glen Dale, Md.) and freshman
Martin Somerville (Bowie, Md.) finished with 13 points apiece. Fifth year
Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.), who rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points, totaled 11 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. As a team, the River Hawks shot 44% from beyond the arc.
Senior
Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) started things off with a two-handed jam, as the teams traded buckets and were tied three times in the opening minutes until Merrimack put together an 11-1 run to create a 17-9 buffer with 11:40 remaining in the first half.
The Warriors maintained at least a two-possession buffer before senior
Xzavier Lino (Phoenix, Ariz.) sparked the River Hawk offense with a three ahead of a Brooks layup and a bucket from beyond the arc by Blunt to cut the difference to just one, 20-19, at 6:10. A pair of threes helped keep the visitors in front, but Blunt continued to grind, logging UMass Lowell's next eight points to put his side within one once more, this time at 30-29 with just over two minutes to go in the period. Somerville then responded to a Merrimack three with one of his own, but the Warriors sunk the final bucket to take a 35-32 edge into halftime.
Coming out of the break, the River Hawks scored five of the first seven points thanks to a breakaway dunk from Brooks and a three from the top of the key by Covington to erase the difference and even the board at 37-37. Although the Warriors responded with five points in a row to regain the upper hand, Mincey knocked down a jumper from three-point territory and Morris III added a layup to knot it up again, this time at 42-42 with 16:40 left to play.
The team battled through two more stalemates before Merrimack used a 9-2 spurt to go up, 55-48, at 11:30. However, Covington tallied five straight points in a 10-4 burst for the home squad to make it 59-58 three minutes later. Covington would then make a diving layup on a second-chance opportunity before Blunt went 2-for-2 at the line to give the River Hawks back the lead at 62-61 with seven minutes to go.
Merrimack tilted the board in their favor once more, but Mincey banked in a layup and Covington converted at the line to give the River Hawks the lead for good, 66-63, at 4:38. The Warriors were within one point on two occasions before Somerville hit a crucial three from the corner with less than two minutes to go, allowing his side to take care of business at the foul line the rest of the way in the 81-74 win.
The River Hawks will wrap up a tough stretch of six games in 13 days on Wednesday, November 27 when they visit Saint Louis for the final game of the 314 Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
