UMass Lowell Wins Their Fifth Straight 83-71 Over BU

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The UMass Lowell River Hawks (10-4) have taken full advantage of their five-game homestand to finish the non-league schedule. On Saturday afternoon, they used a second half surge to get past Boston University (5-7) to win their fourth straight on this homestand and fifth overall 83-71.

Four River Hawks players finished the game in double-figures, create 24 assists on 34 made baskets. Head coach Pat Duquette was pleased with the second half ball movement that led to 56 second half points. It turned a tie game at the half into a double-digit victory.

That first half had a difficult beginning for the River Hawks. In a span of three minutes to begin the game, they turned the ball over on their first three possessions; they had 10 for the half. They would lose starting guard Quincy Clark to a lower body injury for a time however it would return. While the River Hawks were having their troubles with the BU defense, the Terriers were off to a good start. An 18-5 run over the first ten minutes of the game had Boston University in good shape to end a four-game road trip with a win. However, in the first half on Saturday, it would be the River Hawks bench that would save the day.

Martin Somerville (22 points) and Xavier Lino (7 points) came off the bench and provided a much needed spark for the team. They would combine to score 21 of the 27 first half points for UML. Somerville had 14 points in 17 minutes of action, shot 50% from the field 5-of-10, knocked down 4-of-7 from 3-point land. Lino was a perfect 3-for-3 with one being a three pointer. Their offensive output was 11 points better than that of the Terriers bench (21-10). It would be the difference between UMass Lowell being down at the half as opposed to the game being tied at 27-27.

In the second half, the ball movement took over. UML would shoot 71.9 % (23-of-32) and they had 16 assists to only two turnovers.The beneficiary of this was Max Brooks who scored all 18 of his points in the second half on 9-of-10 shooting. He along with guard Yuri Covington who scored all 14 of his points in the second half on 4-of-7 shooting, 3-of-6 from deep and a perfect 3-for-3 from the line. It allowed UML to gain control of the game in the second half. A half that started with a back and forth exchange between the two teams for the first three minutes of the second twenty minutes. The Terriers were staying in the game thanks to some hot shooting from Miles Brewster who finished with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. His three gave BU a 38-36 lead with 16:47 left. Kyrone Alexander (12 points), gave the Terriers what would turned out to be their last lead of the game at 40-39 on a layup with 16 minutes left. Back to back three points makes by Covington gave the River Hawks a 44-41 lead with 14:57 left in the game. It would reach double figures on a layup from Brooks with 11:27 left 56-45. It was part of a 13-4 run that put the game away.

The River Hawks kept the margin at double figures the rest of the half and went into their holiday break with an 83-71 victory over Boston University. After the game, Somerville, who tied his career high with those 22 points, and tied his career high with his six three pointers, talked after the game about the bench production saying “That’s our job and it was much needed”.The team will now have a few days off for Christmas before resuming play. Brooks afterwards said “There are still things to work on”. Both players and the coach are happy with the way the first half of the season went for the team. Up next is the most important part of the year, known as the conference schedule.

Cam Morris III chips in with 10 points and three rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting for UML. For BU Malcolm Chimezie had 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting.