Brooks' Double-Double and UMass Lowell Beat Binghamton, 87-80

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The UMass Lowell River Hawks returned to Costello Athletic Center off a 2-1 road trip. On Thursday night, they began their final homestand of the regular season, a three-game stand against the Binghamton Bearcats. Behind the sixth double-double of the season by senior forward Max Brooks, the River Hawks (18-7, 9-3) got the final homestand off on the right foot with an 87-80 victory over the Bearcats (12-14, 4-9). It would be a trio of River Hawks that got the job done on the offensive side. Brooks got his 20 points and 10 rebounds, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. His help came from senior guard Yuri Covington 22 points, and senior Quinton Mincy with his fifth 20-point game of the season off the bench.

While there was good, there was also bad. Case in point, the Bearcats scored 19 points off of 11 UMass Lowell turnovers. As Brooks said after the game “We need to close out games better.” That stat plus the Bearcats’ ability to score in the paint where they outscored UMass Lowell 46-32, kept them in the game until the very end. Binghamton got a big night from senior guard Tymu Chenery who was 10-of-16 from the field, scoring 24 points. It was his twelfth straight double-digit scoring game. They also received 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting from senior Nehemiah Benson. That was his second 20-point game of the year. The Bearcats graduate guard Symir Torrence recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists. He came into this game as the leader in assists in the league and was fourth in the country at 7.3 a game. While it was a good night for the home team, it was also a tough one as well.

The first half featured four lead changes and three ties with each team faring well from long range. Each team was 6-for-11 from deep. Those turnovers that were mentioned earlier really did hurt UMass Lowell in the first half. They committed five of them, which Binghamton turned into 11 points. What kept the River Hawks from really getting into trouble was the duo of Covington with 13 first-half points, 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep, and Quinton Mincy who had 10 first-half points on 3-of-4 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep. Covington credited his teammates with getting him the ball, especially in the corners where he was deadly all night long. Mincy would close out the first half by scoring the final five points of the first twenty minutes to give his team a 38-36 halftime lead. First, it was and-1 on a layup in the paint as he was fouled by Dan Petcash. He would make the free throw to tie the game at 36-36. Next time down the court, he was fouled again, this time by Benson. He knocked down two more free throws and the River Hawks went to the locker room up by two at 38-36. When trailing at the half, the Bearcats were 1-11. UMass Lowell is 15-2 when leading at the break.

The second twenty minutes saw the River Hawks never give up the lead. In fact, they would get a double-digit lead on Mincy’s three-point basket at 58-48 with 12:38 left in the game. Brooks, with a layup in the paint, gave UMass Lowell its largest lead of the game at 62-48 with 11:20 left in the contest. The lead never felt comfortable and the turnovers by the River Hawks were the main reason why. Binghamton got it down to four at 78-74 on a Benson fast break layup that was made possible by one of those River Hawks turnovers that we spoke of. It was part of an 8-0 run by the Bearcats. Benson had four points in the run, Chenery also had a bucket, as did Chris Walker. Benson, off another UMass turnover, made a perimeter jump shot to make it an 80-76 game with 1:15 left in the game. UMass Lowell closed out the game on a 7-0 run. Five of those points came from the free throw line where the River Hawks were 28-of-31 for the game. The final score from Costello was 87-80 River Hawks.

Head coach Pat Duquette of UMass Lowell was “pleased with the win” saying “It was good to get another win.” He was most happy with the adjustments that were made at halftime to slow down the Bearcats’ shooting from deep. Binghamton came into this game as the worst 3-point shooting team in the league at 29%. While they made six in the first half, the Bearcats made zero in the second half. They also took only four attempts from behind the arc. UMass Lowell was only a little better in the second half going 3-for-13 (23.1%). For the game, they were 9-for-24 (37.5%).

On Saturday, UMass Lowell will try to make it two-for-two on the homestand as they take on UAlbany at 1 PM.