LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman JJ Massaquoi (Prince George's County, Md.) registered 17 points, as the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (13-17, 8-9 AE) faced an 84-60 setback against UMBC (20-8, 12-2 AE) on Saturday afternoon on Alumni Day at Kennedy Family Athletic Complex.
 
"Just not our day today from start to finish," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "We just didn't have what we've had the last six games when we've been playing really, really well. We showed at Vermont that we can play against one of the top teams even when we didn't shoot the ball well. I thought today, we got a little down on ourselves when we didn't shoot the ball well, but they're a very good team and they just showed why they clinched the league this year. Congrats to UMBC. They clearly caught us on a day when we were not our best, but no time and really no reason to dwell on it. There's been too many good games recently, so we just have to rebound and get back to that and go up and play well at Maine to put us in a good mindsight before heading into the playoffs."
 
Junior Shawn Simmons II (Philadelphia, Pa.) added to the offense with 13 points, while junior Angel Montas Jr. (La Romana, D.R.) finished with 10 points.
 
Montas Jr. laid in the first bucket of the game for the River Hawks, as the Retrievers worked to build an early three-possession buffer. Simmons II followed with four points for the home side, but seven unanswered points gave UMBC an 18-6 edge with 13:38 remaining in the first half.
 
Junior Xavier Spencer (Calgary, Alberta) drained a three to ignite an 11-2 spurt to help the home side battle back to within three, 20-17, at 9:26. The visitors led by as many as six once more, but junior Khalil Farmer (Philadelphia, Pa.) provided a spark off the bench, knocking down back-to-back threes ahead of a jumper from Massaquoi to give the River Hawks their first lead at 25-23 with 5:45 to go in the first. The teams were tied twice more down the stretch, and although the Retrievers put together a 10-4 burst, Simmons II would bank in a basket with less than a minute on the clock to cut the difference to just 37-33 at the break.
 
The Retrievers scored eight of the first 10 points coming out of halftime to regain a double-digit advantage. Massaquoi fought down low for the River Hawks' first five points of the second before UMBC went on an 8-0 run to make it 55-38 with 12:28 still to play.
 
Montas Jr. drove to the hoop for two and Simmons II slammed a dunk off a steal from Farmer, but the visitors strung together a 9-2 burst to extend the difference to 66-46 at 8:21. Simmons II banked in another layup before a 10-2 UMBC run stretched the score to 76-50 with four minutes left on the clock. Threes from Spencer and Simmons II highlights the final minutes of the content, but it was not enough to overcome the 84-60 decision.
 
The River Hawks wrap up the regular season at Maine on Tuesday, March 3. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.