LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) registered a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (21-9) outlasted No. 7 UMBC (11-21) in a gritty, back-and-forth battle to open the 2024 Jersey Mike's America East Playoffs.
 
In a game that featured 14 tied scores and 13 lead changes, the River Hawks never trailed in overtime. Knotted at 76-76, senior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) tallied the first four points of the extra period ahead of buckets from senior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) and sophomore Brayden O'Connor (Ottawa, Ontario) during an 8-1 River Hawk run. O'Connor and senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) kept a two-possession buffer for the home team, but a string of five straight points from UMBC's Marcus Banks made it 87-84 with less than a minute to go. However, UMass Lowell held on to close out the decision with seven more made free throws and a block in the waning seconds from Brooks.
 
"This was a great atmosphere and a great college basketball playoff game," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "I give a ton of credit to UMBC. That's a testament to how good our conference is top to bottom when that's the seventh-place team. They gave us all we could handle and made these guys play really, really well. I don't think it was a night where we had our best. We turned the ball over too much, they caused some of that with the way they play, but we handled it better in the second half. I thought we had to win the game twice. It's hard to go into overtime and win it again, so I'm proud of my guys for that and it's always great to advance to the semifinals."
 
With the victory, the River Hawks advance to the America East Semifinals for the third time in four years, and will host No. 3 Bryant on Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. UMass Lowell also remains undefeated in Division I home playoff games and will bring the semifinals to Lowell for the second consecutive year.
 
A total of six River Hawks reached double figures in the contest. O'Connor logged 16 points, all of which came after the first half, while junior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) added 13. Brooks and Hikim each chipped in with 12 points, and Covington rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11. The River Hawks owned the glass in the outing with a 56-32 rebounding advantage, including 16 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second-chance points.
 
The Retrievers scored the first eight points of the afternoon, and although Morris III and Brooks cut the difference in half and Covington would find Mincey beyond the arc to keep the team within striking distance, the visitors followed with two more triples of their own to build an early 10-point buffer.
 
Morris III and Mincey each fought to the hoop to make it a two-possession game once again and after UMBC stretched it to 10 once more, the River Hawks put together a 10-4 run that included triples from senior Anthony Blunt (Crownsville, Md.) and Mincey, closing the gap to 25-21 with 5:31 remaining in the first half. Despite trailing by as many as six in the waning minutes, the River Hawks did not back down, putting together a string of seven straight sparked by a trey from Covington, and closing the period on a buzzer beater by Hikim to take their first lead of the day, 32-31, into the break.
 
O'Connor drove to the hoop to open the scoring in the second half, but five quick lead changes ensued. However, Hikim converted at the foul line before O'Connor knocked down a corner three to give the home team a 46-42 edge with 14:54 left to play. The teams traded points, but triples from Mincey and Covington followed to stretch the advantage to 52-46 at 13:10.
 
UMBC worked to erase the difference and evened the score at 52-52. Mincey put the River Hawks back on top, but the Retrievers responded with a 9-3 run to pull ahead, 61-57, at 9:16. UMass Lowell tied the score seven more times in regulation before Covington fought for two more to give his side a 76-74 lead with 32 seconds on the clock. UMBC's Dion Brown forced a stalemate seconds later to send the game into overtime and set up the thrilling finish.
 
Tuesday's semifinal matchup against Bryant will air on ESPN+.