LOWELL, Mass. – Fifth year
Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) paced five double-digit scorers with 22 points to help propel the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (14-7, 3-3 AE) to a 97-80 victory against New Hampshire (4-18, 2-5 AE) in front of a sold-out crowd at Costello Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
Despite owning just a one-possession difference with 11 minutes to play, the River Hawk offense kicked into another gear down the stretch, outscoring the Wildcats, 37-23, to pull away for the decision. As a team, UMass Lowell shot 57% from the field and 93% from the foul line for the game, in addition to taking a 52-30 advantage in the paint.
"Good to get back on the winning track in front of a good crowd at home after a tough loss on Thursday," said Head Coach
Pat Duquette. "I'm glad we could bounce back so quickly. I really felt like midway through the second half we started to play harder than them. I thought before that, we were allowing them to stay in the game, but once we decided we wanted to play harder than them, we got the separation we needed and showed that we can be a really good team, especially on offense in the second half, so I'm real pleased with the win."
Fifth year
Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.), who added to the offense with his second consecutive 20-point game, tied Brooks for the team lead with nine rebounds. Freshman
Martin Somerville (Bowie, Md.) chipped in with 18 points, all of which came in the final 11 minutes of the outing. Fifth year
Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and senior
Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
The River Hawks got off to a quick, offensive start in the opening minutes with the first four points of the afternoon, including a layup from Brooks. Just over five minutes into play, the Wildcats strung together a pair of threes to take their first lead of the day, but the River Hawks retaliated immediately, as Covington sparked a 10-2 run that featured four points from Mincey to create a 20-13 edge for the home team with 11:19 remaining in the first half.
The teams traded baskets with the River Hawks maintaining at least a five-point margin until UNH scored six in a row to cut the difference to 29-27 at 4:23. Morris III snapped the streak with a bucket down low, and a minute later, Covington kept the home side on top with a triple, creating a 36-31 buffer with just under three minutes to go in the first. However, the visitors were back within two on three more occasions, including after a jumper in the final second to cut the River Hawk lead to 40-38 at the break.
The Wildcats tallied five of the first seven points of the second half to regain the upper hand for the first time since the early minutes, but Brooks answered with a dunk to put UMass Lowell right back on top. One more quick lead change followed ahead of back-to-back buckets from Covington and Brooks that ignited a 12-4 spurt, capped off by massive breakaway dunks from Morris III and Mincey to give the River Hawks a 56-49 advantage with 12:30 left to play.
Although eight of the next 12 points came from the visitors to make it a one-possession game, Somerville and Mincey would go off, combining for the 10 straight points in a 15-2 run to pull away, 75-59, at 7:15. Less than a minute later, Somerville would complete a four-point play for the second consecutive game and Brooks added a layup to create the largest lead yet, 81-62, with less than six minutes to go. UNH broke up the run with a trio of three-pointers, but UMass Lowell responded with seven points in a row, taking its largest margin of the day at 92-71 with 2:54 on the clock, setting up the decisive decision.
The River Hawks now close out the month at NJIT on January 30. Tipoff for that contest is set for 7 p.m.
