River Hawks Fall, 91-77, at Massachusetts

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AMHERST, Mass. – Senior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) tallied a team-high 13 points, as the UMass Lowell men’s basketball team (6-3) fell to the Massachusetts Minutemen (5-2), 91-77, on Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center.

“Give a lot of credit to UMass,” said Head Coach Pat Duquette. “I think that’s as much of an improved team as I’ve seen in one year in a while. Obviously, we came here last year and had a great win, and we’re excited about that, but they beat us this year, and I thought they beat us well.”

Covington, who was one of five River Hawks to reach double-digits, drilled a season-best three triples on his way to 14 points. Senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) filled out the stat sheet, logging 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in the matchup. Junior Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) also added in 13 points, while senior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) and sophomore Brayden O’Connor (Ottawa, Ontario) chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The opening minutes proved to be a back-and-forth battle, as each time the River Hawks hit a basket, the Minutemen responded with one of their own, forcing a 9-9 stalemate with 13:23 remaining in the first. UMass Lowell, however, used a quick, 4-0 burst with layups from senior Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and freshman Anthony Maxwell (Montréal, Québec) to take a two-possession lead with just under 12 minutes on the clock.

After a three-pointer by the hosts made it a one-point game, Hikim found the bottom of the net on consecutive possessions, helping UMass Lowell maintain the three-point edge, 17-14, midway through the period. The Minutemen found their rhythm, though, and put together a 10-0 stretch to go up by seven at 7:29. Looking to chip away at the difference, Hikim connected from deep and Brooks threw down a dunk, but Massachusetts countered with a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 33-22. In the final four minutes of the half, the River Hawks added nine points, highlighted by four from Mincey, but the Minutemen added 12 of their own to take a 45-31 advantage into the break.

Coming out of the locker room, Morris III had the hot hand, scoring the first five points for the River Hawks in only two minutes, and despite Massachusetts continuing to find the hoop on the other end, Covington drained his first trey of the afternoon to make it 52-39 with just over 17 minutes remaining. The Minutemen would pull away, though, scoring 17 of the next 20 points to grow the lead to 69-42 halfway through the second.

UMass Lowell continued to fight, going on an 18-4 run in the final four minutes that was spearheaded by Covington, but time ran out on the comeback attempt, sealing the 91-77 decision.

Next up, the River Hawks return home to take on LIU on Tuesday, December 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Costello Athletic Center.