UMass Lowell Starts Homestand With a 69-62 Win Over LIU

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On Wednesday night, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (7-4) began a five-game homestand vs Long Island University (4-8) at Costello Athletic Center. While at times it was a struggle, the River Hawks came away with a 69-62 win. As coach Pat Duquette said afterward “Glad with the win, not pleased with the way we played.” He mentioned the 17 turnovers his team committed calling them “way too many at home.” This was a game that featured eight lead changes and two ties. The River Hawks had the lead for 34:35 to the Sharks 1:51. In the end, this was a four-minute game that UMass Lowell found a way to win.

Once again, the River Hawks were led by two of their experienced players. Fifth-year senior Quinton Mincy had 20 points and he has now scored in double-figures in nine of the eleven games played. It is his fifth 20-point game and the sixth time he has led the team in scoring. 5th senior Max Brooks had a big night as well. He was a rebound and two block shots away from a triple-double (18 points, 9 boards, 8 blocked shots). The blocked shots are important because Brooks is now the all-time leader in that category. He surpassed Leo Parent who had 246 during his career at UMass Lowell. It was a record that stood for 35 years. Brooks is now at 248 and counting.

The first six minutes of the game saw only two players having any success at putting the ball in the basket. Cam Morris of the River Hawks had seven of the team’s first nine points. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. For LIU, Malachi Davis had four of his team’s first six points. He ended the night with 16 points. The best run of the first half belonged to UMass Lowell. The 14-0 run started with 3:34 left in the first. Three straight baskets from Brooks, Mincy, and Morris got the run started. Morris again, this time off a Sharks turnover, was followed by three-point makes from Mincy and Yuri Covington to give UMass Lowell its biggest lead of the half at 36-22. They would go to the locker room up 11 at 36-25 after Davis knocked down a three of his own at the buzzer.

The second half saw LIU find ways to hang around. Though they would never take the lead, they did manage to tie the game at 58-58 on a basket by Shadrak Lasu in the paint with 4:01 left in the game. The final media timeout of the game came with 3:38 left and the game still tied at 58-58. This is where the River Hawks experience took over. Out of the timeout, Mincy nailed another three-point shot to give his team a 61-58 lead with 2:57 left. Martin Somerville added a free throw to make it a four-point to make it a 62-58 game with 1:39 left in the game. Lasu cut it to a two point game with a second-chance layup and it was 62-60 Lowell with 1:20 to play. Mincy hit his fourth three-pointer of the game with 1:07 left giving his team a five-point lead at 65-60. Brooks and Somerville would each hit two free throws in the last eight seconds of the game to give UML the 69-62 win.

Jamal Fuller was the other Sharks starter in double-figures with 14 points. The key stat of the night was at the free-throw line. The River Hawks were 21-of-25 (84%) and Long Island University was 8-of-9 for 88.9%. That became important based on the Sharks outscoring the River Hawks in the paint by a 40-30 count as well as off the bench by a 16-11 margin. Game two of the homestand is on Saturday afternoon when Dartmouth College comes to Costello for a 2 PM tip.