Stony Brook snaps skid 81-68 over UMass Lowell

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Coach Pat Duquette of the UMass Lowell River Hawks called it the “poorish performance of the year” and he may be right. The River Hawks came into Thursday night’s game vs Stony Brook with a chance to sweep the series from the Seawolves. Instead, they got hammered as Stony Brook led from the outset, and moved past the River Hawks in the America East standings with an 81-68 victory.

This game was all Seawolves from the opening tip, even though the home team started the game 1-for-7 from the field. The River Hawks were not any better shooting, missing their first six shots. When shots did start to fall, it was the home team that was making baskets. And in doing so, they jumped out to a 15-5 lead on Lowell.

The River Hawks would cut the lead down to a one poessision affair, thanks to a 7-0 run. Jahad Thomas had a monster game for the River Hawks with a double-double of 28 points and 11 rebounds. He hit two shots sandwiched around a Josh Gantz rainbow three. Gantz was the only other Lowell player in double figures with 12. Halfway through the first ten minutes it was a 15-12 game.

Stony Brook, as they would do the entire night, answered everything that UMass Lowell threw at them. A 10-0 burst for all intent and purpose ended the night for the River Hawks. The run was fueled off the Seawholves bench by 6-10 forward Jacob Petras who finished the game with 16 points. He had eight of those points during this time and with five minutes left the lead stood at 27-14 Stony Brook.

The Seawolves ended the half with six straight points to head to the lockroom up 40-24. They did it in style hitting back to back three point shots. This included a half-court bank by U.C. Iroegbu (16 for him on the night). Stony Brook was rolling while the River Hawks were searching for answers.

Unfortunately for the visitors, they were never able to find what they were looking for as the Seawolves never stop making shots, or using their height to their advantage. UMass Lowell did cut the deficit to under ten briefly in the latter stages of the second half.

Thomas was the reason the game got as close as it did. The 6-2 senior never stopped working his magic in the paint. He singlehandedly kept his team around in a game that seemed over from the start. Stony Brook played like a team that simply wanted the game more than the River Hawks. The final numbers would bear that out.

The Seawolves shot 46% from the field and many of their baskets were in close. The game plan was to pound the ball inside and take advantage of the height across the front line. It’s been a constant problem for the River Hawks all season and Thursday night was no different.

Coach Duquette was not a happy man afterward when he said his team “is better than this”. They had problems on the glass giving up 16 offensive rebounds, which led to many second chance opportunities for Stony Brook. Then, there was the curious play of senior Matt Harris, who never took a shot in the first half and finished with only six points on the night. They needed more from their second-leading scorer on the team.

Ryan Jones was another among the missing for the River Hawks as he took only one first half attempt on the way to a night he would soon like to forget.

Whatever the reason, the second and third leading scorers on UMass Lowell squad did not make their presence felt and it cost their team dearly.

The final score was 81-68 Seawholves and they improved to 4-7 in league play. The River Hawks dropped to 3-7 in the conference. It does not get any easier for River Hawks, as they make the trip to Burlington Vt. for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the front running Catamounts who have won 31 straight in league play.

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