LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) tallied 29 points to lead the way for the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (19-7, 10-3 AE) in a fast-paced, offensive showdown against UAlbany (12-16, 4-9 AE) on Saturday afternoon at Costello Athletic Center.
 
Although the River Hawks led by as many as 18 early in the second half, the Great Danes' Sebastian Thomas, who totaled 42 points on the day, led a late, 9-3 burst to cut the difference to just six at 95-89, with two minutes left. However, the River Hawks finished with solid defense, while seniors Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) closed it out at the foul line.
 
"This time of year in late February, it's anything you need to do to win a game," said Assistant Coach Ryan Herrion. "You just have to get the job done. Obviously, it was a difficult style of play in the second half with how fast Albany was playing, but I thought we did a great job handling the pressure. We also outrebounded them, outscored them at the free throw line and handled the zone pressure, so I thought we did a great job."
 
Brooks shot an impressive 91% (10-11) from the floor in the contest. For the second game in a row, three River Hawks scored 20 points, as senior Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) chipped in with 24 points with a 13-for-16 effort at the foul line, along with 12 rebounds, and senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) totaled 23 points with five assists. Senior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 17 points, as well. As a team, the River Hawks shot 58% (32-55) and outrebounded the Great Danes, 43-27.
 
Sophomore Brayden O'Connor (Ottawa, Ontario) and Brooks combined for four of the first six points of the afternoon as the offense for both sides worked to settle in. UAlbany followed with a 10-2 run to build an early, two-possession buffer, but Hikim scored the River Hawks' next seven points to keep his team within striking distance before Brooks laid one in to surpass the 1,000 career point mark and spark a 9-3 spurt that put the home team in front, 20-19, with 11:10 remaining in the first half.
 
The back-and-forth battle continued with two stalemates until the River Hawks used a 14-5 stretch, including 11 points from Mincey, to pull ahead, 39-30, at 2:43. The Great Danes were back within two possessions twice in the waning minutes, but Mincey and Brooks converted at the line to help the home side take a 45-37 edge into the break.
 
The River Hawks came out of the locker room on fire with layups from Brooks and Hikim ahead of a steal to dunk combo from junior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.). Brooks and Hikim would go back-to-back once again just over a minute later, and Covington would add a trey to make it 60-43 with 16:02 still to play.
 
An and-1 from Brook and layup from Covington gave the home team its largest lead, 67-49, at 13:16. However, UAlbany got to work with an 11-4 run, cutting the deficit to 71-60 less than four minutes later.
 
The teams traded baskets and the River Hawks maintained at least an 11-point advantage until the Great Danes put together a 10-3 spurt to close the gap to just 88-80 at 4:14 and set up the close finish.
 
The River Hawks play their regular-season home finale on Thursday, February 29 against Bryant. Tipoff for that Senior Night game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.