LOWELL, Mass. – Fifth year Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) registered 20 points to pace the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (13-7, 2-3 AE) in an 86-85 overtime setback against Maine (13-8, 5-1 AE) at Costello Athletic Center on Thursday evening.
 
After nine ties, 11 lead changes and a scoreless final four minutes of regulation, the teams entered overtime knotted at 75-75. Despite Maine tallying the first two points of the extra period, the River Hawks followed with six straight, including a high-flying dunk from senior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.), giving the River Hawks an 81-77 advantage with three minutes left. The Black Bears forced another tie, and although Morris III and Mincey created one more two-possession buffer at 85-81, the visitors went on to record five points in the final 30 seconds to seal the outcome.
 
"It was a tough loss for us on our home floor," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "It was a really close game against a really good team. They played physical and tough, they're good. I thought we were good at times, not great, we're still not the team we need to be. We have to be able to close out a game like this at home. I thought we had two or three opportunities to do that, especially when we got the four-point lead with a couple minutes left. We've got to know time and score there, and either get an uncontested layup or take time off the clock, so we've got to a better job there. There's no time to dwell on it, though, because we're playing again in two days."
 
Mincey, who led four double-digit scorers for the River Hawks and added seven assists, surpassed 1,000 career points with his performance in the contest. Fifth year Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) followed closely with 19 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Morris III and senior Quincy Clark (Columbus, Ohio) chipped in 16 and 10 points, respectively, as well.
 
The River Hawks won the opening tip and jumped out to an early lead with buckets from Clark and Mincey. Although the Black Bears' A.J. Lopez put together an 11-2 run on his own, Clark followed with an and-1 and Mincey sunk a triple to put the home side back in front, 12-11, with 15:51 remaining in the first half.
 
Two quick lead changes ensued, with freshman Martin Somerville (Bowie, Md.) converting on a four-point play to regain the upper hand for his side before senior Xzavier Lino (Phoenix, Ariz.) sunk a pair of triples to make it 22-17 at 10:27. The River Hawks led by as many as seven over the next several minutes until Maine used a 9-4 spurt to make it a two-point game, 35-33, at 5:44. UMass Lowell dug in, though, and responded with a 13-2 run that was capped off by five straight points from Clark, helping the team take a 48-38 edge into the break.
 
The Black Bears tallied the first seven points of the second half to cut the difference to just one possession, and although Morris III added a pair of layups to keep the home side on top, the visitors would eventually string together six points in a row to even the board at 58-58 with 11:37 left to play. Fifth year Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) answered with a three from the wing, but after two more quick lead changes, the Black Bears put together a 6-1 stretch to go up, 69-65, at 8:47.
 
Threes from Mincey and Somerville helped erase the difference and knot the score at 71-71 with just under six minutes on the clock. After a Maine bucket, Mincey scored four in a row to give his side the two-point advantage, but the visitors' Kellen Tynes quickly evened the board once again at 75-75. Neither side was able to score in the final four minutes, setting up the overtime finish.   
 
The River Hawks are back in action at home on Saturday, January 25 against New Hampshire beginning at 2 p.m.