River Hawks Top Army, 92-85, on Day Two of Brown Bears Classic

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River Hawks Top Army, 92-85

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Led by redshirt-junior Christian Lutete (Silver Spring, Md.), who registered a season-high 25 points, the UMass Lowell men’s basketball team (2-3) topped Army West Point (1-3), 92-85, on day two of the Brown Bears Tip-Off Classic.

“This was an outstanding win for our program against a very good Army team,” said Head Coach Pat Duquette. “We had a lot of really good contributions from different people. I’m disappointed we didn’t make our free throws down the stretch and I asked them during our final timeout if they wanted to give away a game they’ve worked so hard for that easily, and they responded awesomely. Overall, I’m really happy for our guys. This was a great win on the road.”

Lutete drained four, first-half threes en route to his 25-point performance. Two other River Hawks set personal records in the outing, as sophomore Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) matched a career high with 19 points and freshman Alex Rivera (Lowell, Mass.) posted a season-best 16 points. Redshirt-senior Josh Gantz (Grove City, Ohio) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the team with 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. As a team, the River Hawks shot an impressive 61.4 percent (35-57) from the floor, in addition to outrebounding the Black Knights, 31-26.

Henderson put the River Hawks on the board with back-to-back buckets in his first career start, and although Army created an early, 11-4 advantage, UMass Lowell was able to knot the score at 11-11 following a three from Lutete with 15:28 remaining in the first half.

The River Hawks forced two more stalemates before Army used a quick, 8-2 spurt to open up a 24-18 advantage at 11:04. Freshman Allin Blunt (Bowie, Md.) hit a step-back jumper and Rivera drained a three from the wing to cut the difference to just one, but the Black Knights led by as many as six twice more in the period. However, Lutete would spark a 14-6 run in the final minutes of the first to give his squad a 44-42 edge at the break.

Army closed the gap to just one after halftime before UMass Lowell ignited a 12-3 run that gave the team its first double-digit buffer of the day, 57-47, at 16:09. The River Hawks maintained at least a six-point lead until the Black Knights scored seven in a row to pull within four at 66-62 with 7:28 to go.

The teams traded baskets down the stretch and Army continued to pressure, cutting the deficit to only one inside of three minutes to go. Rivera kept his squad ahead, though, with a long, off-balance jumper, as UMass Lowell outscored Army, 12-6, to secure the 92-85 victory.

Saturday’s contest marked just the second meeting between UMass Lowell and Army in the sport of men’s basketball and the first at the Division I level. The River Hawks wrap up the weekend’s tournament tomorrow, Sunday, November 17, at 1:30 p.m.