River Hawks Back on the Road at UAlbany for Weekend Set

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ALBANY, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell River Hawks men’s basketball team is on the road for its third straight series this Friday and Saturday when they visit the UAlbany Great Danes.

A WIN WOULD
A win against UAlbany would mark the River Hawks’ sixth America East series with at least one win this year. UMass Lowell could also even the all-time series against the Great Danes at 12-12.

LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks split their most recent series at New Hampshire on Feb. 5-6. Despite trailing by as many as 12 in the first half of game one, UMass Lowell put together an impressive comeback to defeat the Wildcats, 74-69, on Friday. Sophomore Connor Withers led the River Hawk attack in that outing with 19 points, while redshirt-sophomore Bryce Daley added a career-high 18 points. Daley then registered a team-best 15 points, as UMass Lowell was clipped, 74-63, the next day. The second half proved to be the difference, as the lead changed nine times and the teams were tied seven times before the Wildcats took the advantage for good. Daley was joined in double-figures by Withers, who finished with 12 points, and sophomore Kalil Thomas, who chipped in with 10.

LEADING THE FLOCK
Obadiah Noel, the squad’s lone senior, is pacing the America East and is ranked 12th in the nation with 21.2 points per game. He adds a team-best 3.5 assists per game. Connor Withers is controlling the boards with 6.2 rebounds per game, in addition to chipping in with 9.7 points per game and a team-best 16 blocks.

OVER OR UNDER
Attaining 70 points has seemed to be the bar for the River Hawks this year, as the team is 7-1 so far when scoring at least 70 points and 0-8 when scoring less than 70.

HEAT CHECK
The River Hawks picked up their first America East series sweep of the season at Binghamton and have now won three of their last four games.

ETCHING HIS NAME IN THE RECORDS
Obadiah Noel continues to add to his record-setting career, as he became just the second River Hawk to surpass 1,500 career points at the Division I level with his 26-point performance on Jan. 16 at Binghamton. He now sits behind only Jahad Thomas (1,864).

TURNING UP
Sophomore Kalil Thomas has come on strong as of late. After scoring a then personal-best 13 points against Hartford on Jan. 10, he bested that mark with 16 points at Binghamton on Jan. 16. He also hit a career-high four 3FGs in each of the games against the Bearcats. Thomas is now averaging 12.2 points in his last five outings, compared to 2.4 points in his first 10 this year.

CHARITABLE EFFORTS
So far this year, no player in the America East has been sent to the foul line (122) or made more free throws (93) than Obadiah Noel. He currently ranks 12th in the nation for free throws made. The guard set a new personal best, going 15-for-16 from the charity stripe at Stony Brook on Dec. 28. With that performance, he logged the most free throws in a single game for the program since Logan Primerano made 16 in 2015-2016.

SHARPSHOOTERS
The River Hawks, who led the America East in shooting percentage for the last two years, are shooting 45.2 percent from the field this year. The team shot a season-high 62.7% in the win Binghamton on Jan. 16. Salif Boudie is currently pacing the squad with a field goal percentage of 63.2%.

HELPING HANDS
Both Obadiah Noel and Bryce Daley are currently ranked in the top five in the America East for assists per game. Daley logged a personal-best seven helpers at Binghamton on Jan. 17.