LOWELL, Mass. – Fifth years Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and Anthony Blunt (Glen Dale, Md.) each tallied 15 points, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (11-4) wrapped up non-conference action with a 101-39 victory against Emerson (6-4) on Monday afternoon at Costello Athletic Center.
 
With the win, the River Hawks stretch their current win streak to six games and improve to an undefeated, 10-0 at home so far this season. The 11 non-conference wins is also good for second most during the program's Division I era.
 
"Good win today," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We needed this game after break and before conference play because I think it's important for us to play a game, get our legs back and get in the flow. It kind of went exactly how I wanted it to. I wanted everybody to get involved. We shared the ball and made the right plays, and that's what I was looking for in this game. I'm happy to end the non-conference schedule with another good win and now the fun begins and we're looking forward to league play."
 
The River Hawks finished with a total of eight, double-digit scorers, matching another DI program record. Fifth year Mekhi Gray (Montrose, N.Y.) totaled a season-high 13 points, while classmate Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.), senior Xzavier Lino (Phoenix, Ariz.) and freshman Martin Somerville (Bowie, Md.) all chipped in with 12 points apiece. Somerville also led the way with a career-best eight assists. Fifth Year Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.), who tallied a game-high 10 rebounds, and senior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) rounded out the scoring leaders with 10 points each. As a team, UMass Lowell shot 57% from the field and totaled 22 assists, as well.
 
Blunt opened the scoring for the River Hawks with a trey and Lino added a layup to give the home side its first lead in the contest. The teams were knotted twice in the early minutes, including at 7-7, before the River Hawks scored six in a row with the help of a triple from Somerville to create a two-possession buffer. The Lions would respond with back-to-back buckets to make it a two-point game, but Covington knocked down another UMass Lowell three to spark a 15-3 run that was capped off by two more buckets from beyond the arc by Gray and Lino, stretching the difference to 28-14 with 9:41 remaining in the first half.
 
A massive, coast-to-coast slam from Gray followed less than two minutes later as part of a 19-2 River Hawk spurt that spanned the majority of the waning minutes. Sam Ndu threw down a dunk for Emerson for the final points of the period, although the River Hawks took a comfortable, 49-22 edge into the locker room.
 
The Lions tallied the first bucket of the second half, but UMass Lowell responded with nine consecutive points, including five from Mincey. Minutes later, Brooks and Mincey went off, combining for nine points to ignite a string of 17 unanswered that put the home team in front, 77-28, at 9:51.
 
Following the first Emerson bucket in more than five minutes, Lino dished a long pass to Gray for a breakaway windmill dunk, helping to kickstart another string of 13 straight points for UMass Lowell that was capped off by a jam from senior Ephraim Acquah (Hagerstown, Md.) to make it 90-30 with less than six minutes on the clock. Although Emerson scored the next seven points, the River Hawks finished with 11 of the final 13 points to seal the victory.
 
Having completed their five-game homestand, the River Hawks now head to UAlbany to open America East play on Saturday, January 4. Tipoff for that contest is slated for 4 p.m.