UMass Lowell improves to 3-0 in America East with win over UMBC

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In the America East Conference, this much is a given. When you score 56 points in the paint, you better win the game. On Saturday afternoon, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (12-4, 3-0) did just that by constantly pounding the ball inside against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (5-13, 0-3) front line. The result of taking the ball to the basket was an 86-82 win that extended the River Hawks winning streak to five games, and sent UMBC home with an eight-game losing streak.

The River Hawks were led by senior forward Max Brooks who put together his third double-double of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds. He was 10-of-13 from the field and most, if not all of his field goal attempts, were within 10 feet of the basket. That’s because the guards for UMass Lowell were driving the ball to the hoop all game long. Senior guard Ayinde Hikim was an assist shy of a double-double himself with 14 points and nine dimes. The frontcourt trio of Brooks, Cam Morris III, and Karim Coulibaly combined for 41 points, 19 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Size in this league matters and the River Hawks have it.

However, give UMBC credit because they stayed in the game despite giving up a lot of points in the paint. They lost the turnover battle (13 to 8) and only got to the free-throw line eight times for the entire game. They did make six of them. Because they were in the paint all day long, the River Hawks went to the line 21 times making 17 of them. In the end, that made a big difference. So too did the 3-point shooting which is how the Retrievers were able to make this a close game. They were 10-of-26 for the game (38.5%). In the second half, they were 8-of-15 (53.3%). On the year, UMBC is a 34% 3-point shooting team and on Saturday afternoon it almost won them a game on the road.

The first half had two lead changes and two ties. UMBC would have the lead for thirty seconds of it. Marcus Banks Jr hit a layup in the lane to give his team a 14-12 lead with 11:52 left in the first half. It would be the only lead of the game for UMBC. Banks finished the game with 15 points off the bench despite shooting only 2-for-11 from deep. The River Hawks put together an 8-2 run that gave them their first double-digit lead of the game. The run was started by a 3-point play from Quinton Mincy (17 points off the bench). A Coulibaly (12 points) layup in the paint was followed by a short jumper from Brooks. Then, Hikim finished the run with a jumper of his own. The River Hawks were up ten, 32-22 with 5:06 to play. With two more baskets in the paint, Brooks increased the lead to 14 at 38-24 with 2:49 left in the half. When Morris knocked down a three from the right wing with 20 seconds left, UMass Lowell left the court matching their biggest lead of 14 at 45-31. They seem in control of this one.

The River Hawks came out of the locker room with the intention of putting the game away. A Yuri Covington three-ball gave the home team a 17-point lead at 58-41 with 15:03 left to play. Then UMBC started making shots. A quick five-point run dropped the lead to 12 at 58-46 with 13:23 left. Ace Valentine’s (15 points) jumper was followed by an Alpha Chibambe three-pointer. The visitors were just getting started. UMBC’s outside shooting would make this a one-possession game at 60-57 with 10:34 left in the game. An 11-0 run, with nine of those points coming from beyond the arc, two 3-point makes from Banks, and one from Devan Sapp (11 points) had the crowd inside Costello Athletic Center a little nervous. UMass Lowell would increase the double-digit lead to twelve on a Mincy second chance layup in the paint. It was 79-67 with 2:40 left in the game. Then, sophomore Dion Brown (23 points, 10 boards) got hot for UMBC. He hit back-to-back three-pointers to get his team back to within six at 79-73 with 1:22 left. Two free throws from Brown made it a one-score game at 79-76 with 34 seconds remaining. With 25 seconds left, Brown took the ball to the basket off a fast break and scored again to keep it a one-score game at 81-78. UMBC would foul to try and extend the game. Lowell would hit their free throws down the stretch to keep UMBC at bay as Brooks and Hikim would make two free throws apiece and the River Hawks walked away with an 86-82 win.

Assistant coach Matt Graves had postgame duties for UMass Lowell. While he thought it was a “good win” he also pointed out “We have not played a full 40-minute game.” Hikim liked the way “we shared the ball.” Seventeen assists to eight turnovers make that point. Brooks’ double-double was the 11th of his career. When asked if the team may have taken their foot off the gas pedal when up by 17 with fifteen minutes to play, he didn’t think that was the case, instead thought “the offense stopped moving the ball.” UMass Lowell will spend next week on the road in upstate New York with games on Thursday night at UAlbany and then on Saturday at Binghamton.