Five in Double Figures Lead UMass Lowell to 78-65 Win Over LIU

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On Tuesday night at Costello Athletic Center, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (7-3) used a punishing inside game to defeat the Long Island University Sharks (1-8) by a 78-65 score. This game was decided in a couple of areas. First, the River Hawks scored 52 points in the paint. They came into this contest averaging 46.2 points in the darker area. Second, they were able to get 17 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second-chance points. That was big for the River Hawks because they did not shoot the ball well from the outside. From 3-point land, UMass Lowell struggled shooting only 2-14 for 14.3%. In the second half, they did not make a three going 0-6.

The duo of Max Brooks (17 points, seven rebounds) and Cam Morris III (11 points, nine rebounds) made up for the bad outside shooting by going for a combined 28 points, 16 boards, and two block shots. They would both foul out of this game. However, the game was in the balance by then. Four of the River Hawks starters finish in double-figures and the backcourt pair of Branden O’Connor (13 points, eight rebounds) and Ayinde Hikim (13 points, seven boards, five assists) once again kept pounding the ball inside to the big guys who responded with either layups or dunks. This game was played at a much slower pace than maybe the home team would have liked with only two fast break points. The Sharks had only three fast-break points themselves. This was a half-court game and although it took a while, UMass Lowell had enough in the end.

The first half saw five lead changes and three ties. Both teams had scoring runs that gave them cushions in the first half. The Sharks would have the lead for nine of the first twenty minutes. Their largest lead was four on two occasions. The first time was off a Terell Strickland (10 points, three assists, five rebounds) jumper to make it a 9-5 game. Ahmed Essahaty’s layup off a River Hawks turnover made it an 18-14 lead for LIU with 9:23 left in the half. Up until then, the highlights for the River Hawks were back-to-back dunks from Morris off the baseline and the O’Connor dunk off a Hikim assist. UMass Lowell finally gained a bit of control of the half when Andres Fulgencio scored in the paint to give the River Hawks the lead at 25-24 with 5:04 left in the half. It would be Fulgencio’s only basket of the night. It would start UMass Lowell on a run that would extend the lead to ten at the half. The run was a 12-0 spurt that saw Brooks with five of those points including an old-fashioned three-point play. The lead was at nine at 33-24 with 2:26 to play. A layup with two seconds left by Hikim gave the River Hawks a 10-point halftime lead of 37-27.

In the second half, the River Hawks would never lose the lead. The high water mark came at the 11:43 mark when Morris, off a fast break from a Sharks turnover, dunked the ball to make it a 54-37 lead. The 17-point advantage was its highest point. The Sharks, whom UMass coach Pat Duquette called “a much-improved team” did get some fine individual performances from a couple of their starters. Seven-foot center Nikola Djapa from Belgrade, Serbia finished the game with a double-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals. The double-double was his first of the season. Tana Kopa from Perth, Western Australia had 12 second-half points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field. He was 2-of-7 from deep. He finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 3-of-8 from 3-point land. The loss by the Sharks was their fourth in a row.

Coach Duquette still believes his team is “a work in progress.” That statement is even truer since Abdoul Karim Coulibaly missed his fifth straight game with an undisclosed injury. Max Brooks and Cam Morris III both commented on how the team is making the right plays and getting big rebounds. On Tuesday night, the River Hawks cleaned up the glass getting 51 rebounds for the night. 17 were offensive and 34 were on the defensive glass. On Saturday night, UMass Lowell will make their first appearance at Tsongas Center when they host Central Connecticut State. Tipoff is at 5 PM.