LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Austin Green (Sicklerville, N.J.) registered 22 points and 14 rebounds for his second double-double in three games, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball (5-8) turned in a strong second half to secure an 87-82 victory against Sacred Heart (4-7) on Tuesday evening at Kennedy Family Athletic Complex.
 
"It was great to get back on the winning track," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We carried the momentum from our last game into tonight and continued to play well. I think we've played better consistently over the last three or four weeks. I'm just happy that these guys have kept fighting and stayed together and that's how we got to the point where we are now. We still have to keep getting better, but I'm happy with where we are at. We've come a long way and tonight 21 assists is a great sign that we are sharing the ball, and we didn't turn the ball over tonight."
 
The River Hawks forced 14 Pioneers' turnovers in the contest and outrebounded the opposition, 41-36, en route to the win in their final non-conference home game. Junior Xavier Spencer (Calgary, Alberta) chipped in with 20 points, while classmate Darrell Yepdo (Dracut, Mass.) added 16. Both Spencer and Yepdo finished with career highs of four, three-pointers, as the team totaled a season-best 12 makes from long range. The squad also matched its season best with 21 assists on the night.
 
The offense for both sides got out to a fast start, as Spencer registered the first bucket of the night for the home team before Green and junior Angel Montas Jr. (La Romana, D.R.) combined for six straight points to create a two-possession margin. Sacred Heart followed with six of the next nine points to cut the difference to just one, but Spencer finished a one-handed slam and Montas Jr. added a corner trey to make it 16-13 with 15:06 remaining in the first half.
 
Although the Pioneers responded with nine unanswered points to pull in front for the first time since the opening minute, Green banked in a layup to stop the streak before junior Jared Frey (Columbus, Ohio) and freshman Victor Okojie (Castlebar, Ireland) knocked down threes to give UMass Lowell a 24-22 edge at 9:20. The visitors tilted the board back in their favor, using back-to-back triples to spark a 10-3 run, but redshirt-freshman Isaiah Walter (Central Coast, Australia) converted at the line and Spencer drained a jumper from beyond the arc, putting the River Hawks within a basket at 33-31 with less than five minutes to play in the first. SHU sunk three more threes in the waning minutes to stretch the difference to nine, but Green converted on an and-1 to close the gap to just 44-38 at the break.
 
Yepdo hit a three coming out of halftime, igniting an 11-2 run to regain the upper hand, 49-46, with 17:19 left to play. The visitors battled back with 10 of the next 14 points, but the River Hawk defense locked in, going on to hold SHU without a field goal for eight minutes. During that stretch, Green logged four consecutive points and Yepdo added another three, sparking a 15-4 spurt to put their side in front, 68-60, at 6:24.
 
The Pioneers' Nyle Ralph-Beyer and Dashon Gittens broke up the run with three, three-pointers to close the gap to just one with four minutes to go. However, Spencer scored off a Yepdo steal and Okojie went 2-for-2 at the line to create some breathing room, 74-69, at 3:04. SHU pulled within a bucket until Yepdo and Spencer sunk three more threes, and although it was a three-point game once more in the final seconds, Okojie slammed home a dunk with five seconds on the clock to secure the 87-82 outcome.
 
The River Hawks are back in action once more before the holiday break when they visit Boston University for a 12 p.m. tipoff.