River Hawk Offense Ignites in Second Half to Defeat UAlbany, 79-71

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ALBANY, N.Y. – Led by four, double-digit scorers and shooting 20-for-25 (80%) from the floor in the second half, the UMass Lowell River Hawk men’s basketball team (8-9, 7-6 AE) defeated UAlbany (4-7, 4-5 AE), 79-71, on Friday night.

“We were just happy to play and I told the guys that before the game,” said Head Coach Pat Duquette. “We don’t know what’s going to happen from here on forward and we’re playing well. Albany played really hard and tough, lot of fight, they never gave up. They forced us to make a lot of winning plays and really play about as well as we can play to get this win tonight.”

The team also scored seven of its eight three-point field goals in the second half to pull away in a contest that was tied seven times.

Sophomore Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.) led the River Hawks with 19 points on the night, while redshirt-sophomore Bryce Daley (Pittsfield, Mass.) and sophomore Darion Jordyn-Thomas each finished just shy of a double-double. Daley contributed 17 points and a career-high nine assists. Jordan-Thomas tied a season-best with 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.), who matched Withers with three triples, rounded out the 10+ point scorers with 14.

The offense for both teams was slow to get started in the first half. The River Hawks led once in the early part of the contest thanks to six consecutive points from Thomas and Daley, but the Great Danes used a quick, 8-2 spurt to create a two-possession lead, 16-12, with 10:54 remaining in the first half.

UAlbany would lead by four once more before Jordan-Thomas scored on consecutive trips down the floor to erase the difference and even the board, 18-18, at 6:35. The teams were tied on three other occasions down the stretch, but Withers drained a jumper inside of the final minute to put the visitors ahead, 26-24, at the break.

Withers and Daley opened the second half with buckets to give UMass Lowell a six-point buffer until the Great Danes answered with a 12-2 run to regain the upper hand. The lead was short-lived, though, as the River Hawks outscored their hosts, 21-10, including 11 points from Thomas, in the next six minutes to pull away, 52-44, with 10:54 still to play.

The River Hawks maintained at least a five-point margin until UAlbany’s Anthony Rizzuto hit back-to-back threes to make it 65-61 at 5:30. However, Withers and Blunt combined to give UMass Lowell the breathing room it needed before Jordan-Thomas extended the difference to double-digits at 76-66 with just over a minute to go in the decision.

The two teams will wrap up the weekend series tomorrow, Sunday, February 13 at 3 p.m.