LOWELL, Mass. – Fifth year Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) totaled a game-high 30 points to help lift the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (16-11, 5-7 AE) to a 98-79 victory against UMBC (12-16, 4-9 AE) on Thursday evening at Costello Athletic Center.
 
"It was great to get back on the winning track," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "It's been a tough week and a half for this group. I think we learned some lessons and I know we stuck together. That's not to say we weren't pushed to our limits because we have been; inside the locker room, in the gym, off the court. Not to make this out to be more than it is, but it's a great bounce back. It's a great sign for me, that's all I want. There's so many things we can't control, but if I can just have the best version of my team, then I'm going to sleep great every night."
 
Brooks went 13-for-16 from the field, as the River Hawks shot 64% as a unit from the field in the contest. Fifth year Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added a double-double with 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Freshman Martin Somerville (Bowie, Md.) registered his first career double-double, as well, finishing with 18 points and setting a new Division I single-game program record with 13 assists. Senior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) and fifth year Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) rounded out the offensive leaders for UMass Lowell with 12 and 11 points, respectively. As a team, UMass Lowell totaled 24 assists and 11 three-pointers en route to tallying its most points against a DI opponent this season.
 
The River Hawks were hot from beyond the arc early in the contest, jumping out to an 11-2 lead with threes from Mincey and Somerville. The Retrievers worked to pull within two possessions before another triple from Mincey and one from Covington stretched the difference to 21-14 with 13:15 remaining in the first half. Just over a minute later, the River Hawks put together a brief, 7-2 spurt that included a three-point play from Brooks to help create a 28-19 margin at 9:10.
 
UMass Lowell extended its lead to double-digits for the first time in the contest following back-to-back treys from fifth year Anthony Blunt (Glen Dale, Md.) and Mincey, making it 36-24, with 7:28 to go in the first. The Retrievers responded with six straight points, but the home team fought right back with eight in a row, including more buckets from beyond the arc by Somerville and Mincey, to build a 44-30 edge at 4:06. A late, 10-2 run for UMBC cut into the difference, although Mincey was able to net the final bucket of the period to give the River Hawks a 52-44 advantage at the break.
 
Brooks laid in the first points of the second half, and despite a pair of UMBC buckets, the home team answered with nine of the next 12 points to pull away, 63-51, with 16:34 left to play. The visitors would close the gap to seven before Brooks and Morris III combined for a 12-5 run that made it 75-61 at 12:29.
 
Less than two minutes later, Brooks strung together eight consecutive points as part of a 12-2 River Hawk run that was capped off by a triple from Covington to give the home side an 89-67 buffer with 7:43 remaining. Brooks scored four more points down the stretch, while Somerville and Covington closed out the scoring for UMass Lowell in the 98-79 decision.
 
Next up, the River Hawks head to Vermont for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, February 22.