NEW YORK, N.Y. – Senior Austin Green (Sicklerville, N.J.) finished with a team-high 19 points, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (1-3) fell to the Columbia Lions (2-1), 86-72, on Thursday night.

"I thought this was our best game yet as a team against a very well coached and experienced Columbia team," said Head Coach Pat Duquettte. "We did some good things but got hammered on the boards."

Green, who added six rebounds and two steals, was one of four River Hawks to finish with a double-digit scoring effort. Junior Shawn Simmons II (Philadelphia, Pa.) added a career-best 14 points with two blocks and a steal, while junior Xavier Spencer (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) totaled 12 points and 12 assists for his first career double-double. Junior Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass.) rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points.

The River Hawks started hot, putting up nine straight points in just over two minutes, highlighted by triples from Simmons II and Yepdo to take the early lead. The Lions answered with six of their own, but a second three by Simmons II broke up the scoring run to give UMass Lowell a six-point buffer, 12-6, four minutes in. The back-and-forth battle continued, and although Columbia drained two straight shots from beyond the arc, junior Jared Frey (Columbus, Ohio) hit one of his own before freshman JJ Massaquoi (Prince George's County, Md.) and Simmons II both added a basket to take a 23-14 lead midway through the first.

Looking to cut into the deficit, the Lions used a trio of layups to pull back within one possession, but the visitors locked in defensively, not allowing another basket for nearly three minutes. Meanwhile, the River Hawks hit their stride on offense, as Green made two baskets, and Spencer and Frey each added one to put their squad ahead, 31-22. In the final minutes of the half, Yepdo connected from deep again, but a 9-5 run for the Lions closed the gap to 36-31 at the break.   

Coming out of the half, Green sank a pair of free throws to start the scoring, but Columbia answered with three straight baskets to cut the lead to one. Although UMass Lowell made two of the game's next three baskets to make it 42-39, an 18-3 run by the Lions gave them their largest lead of the night, 57-45, with 12:40 on the clock. The River Hawks refused to back down, using two quick layups by Green to make it an eight-point game, but a 5-0 run extended the hosts' lead to 62-49 with just over eight minutes to play.

Slowly chipping away at the lead, the River Hawks used a 10-7 run, highlighted by threes from junior Khalil Farmer (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Spencer, to make it a 10-point difference, 69-59, with 6:20 remaining. Both sides continued to battle, and despite back-to-back baskets by Spencer that made it 75-68 with just over four to play, Columbia finished the game on an 11-4 run, sealing the 86-72 decision.

Next up, the River Hawks will continue the five-game road trip as they head to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to take on Wake Forest on Sunday, November 16. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at LJVM Coliseum.