LOWELL, Mass. – Junior Angel Montas Jr. (La Romana, D.R.) logged 28 points to help lift the UMass Lowell men's basketball team (15-17) to an 81-76 comeback victory against No. 5 UAlbany (11-21) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Playoffs at Kennedy Family Athletic Complex on Saturday.
 
Despite trailing by as many as 12 in the second half, the River Hawks used a 16-1 run that included pivotal three from freshman Victor Okojie (Castlebar, Ireland) to change the lead for the first and only time in the contest. The performance marked the first time since 2021 that the River Hawks have overcome a 12-point, second-half deficit. UMass Lowell now advances to the semifinal round of the tournament with the opponent still to be determined.
 
"That was a lot of fun," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "It's always awesome to host a home playoff game. It's just a different atmosphere, different vibe, more at stake and our fans showed up. Our lacrosse team, I love those guys. Albany was great in the first half. We could not stop their ball screens. We had to make some changes at halftime and we came up with what we thought was a good game plan. Our guys executed great defensively and we played some zone which we rarely do and that turned the game for us."
 
Junior Xavier Spencer (Calgary, Alberta) added to the offensive effort with 19 points, while junior Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 17 points. Montas Jr. and Spencer both tied personal bests with three and four three-pointers in the outing, respectively. Yepdo added a career-high eight assists, as well.
 
The Great Danes jumped in front early with the first 13 points of the contest before Montas Jr. rolled in a layup and converted on an and-1. A minute later, Spencer knocked down a corner trey off the inbound to spark a 9-3 spurt that was capped off by another three, this time from Montas Jr., to put the River Hawks within seven at 21-14 with 10:36 left in the first half.
 
The teams traded buckets over the next minute before Spencer came up clutch from three-point territory once again and freshman JJ Massaquoi (Prince George's County, Md.) dunked an offensive put-back to close the gap to just four, 25-21, at the eight-minute mark. The River Hawks continued to battle to gain the momentum and were back within four following back-to-back buckets from senior Austin Green (Sicklerville, N.J.) and Yepdo, making it 30-26 with four minutes left on the clock. Montas Jr. scored four points down the stretch and Spencer sunk a last-second three, but the visitors held on to a 42-35 edge at the break.
 
The Great Danes scored seven of the first nine points coming out of halftime, but Montas Jr. ignited the River Hawk offense with the first four points of a 16-1 run that was capped off by a massive dunk and three-point ball from Okojie and an and-1 from Spencer to give the home side its first lead of the day at 54-50 with 11:15 minutes still to play.
 
The River Hawks held the Great Danes without a field goal for almost eight consecutive minutes, extending their advantage to 58-51 with buckets from Montas Jr. and junior Shawn Simmons II (Philadelphia, Pa). UAlbany's Okechukwu Okeke quickly made it a one-possession game, and although Spencer knocked down a trey, the visitors cut the difference to just one, 61-60, at 6:12. However, Yepdo went off on an 8-3 spurt of his own to create a six-point buffer. A layup from Spencer and a trey from Montas Jr. then helped seal the lead down the stretch ahead of free throws in the final minute en route to the 81-76 victory.
 
The River Hawks will now take part of the semifinals of the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Playoffs on Tuesday, March 7.