UMass Lowell loses to Bryant at the buzzer, 79-78

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You never want a game decided by a call with seconds left in a game. However, that is exactly what happened at Costello Athletic Center on Thursday night. With his team down one, Bryant’s Earl Timberlake took the inbound pass and went the length of the floor. As he cut across the lane from left to right, he hit the floor and was bailed out by a late foul call with 7 tenths of a second left in the game. Timberlake (17 points, 9 rebounds) hit both free throws to give Bryant College (18-11, 12-2) a 79-78 win over UMass Lowell (16-13, 5-9).

Coach Pat Duquette of the River Hawks called it the “Best game we have played all year.” The game featured 19 lead changes and seven ties. Bryant’s biggest lead was two at 25-23 on two free throws by Barry Evans (10 points) with 7:09 left in the first half. A half that was a bit of a duel between the Bulldogs Rafael Pinzon (12 in the half, 16 for the game) and Max Brooks of the River Hawks (12 in the half, game-high 24 with nine boards). Two of Brooks’s points gave him 1500 points for his career at UMass Lowell. When the teams reached halftime the River Hawks had a 42-39 lead.

In the second half, the River Hawks had the lead for 17:41. The biggest lead they had was seven points on two different occasions. The first time was on a short jumper in the lane from Martin Somerville (17 points, 5 assists) that at the time gave UMass Lowell a 53-46 lead with 14:35 left in the game. The second time came with 10:51 left on a layup in the paint from Brooks. At that point, the River Hawks were up 59-52.

There is a reason why Bryant University has been the best team in America East this season. They quickly went on a 6-0 run to close the deficit to one at 59-58 with 9:32 left. Two baskets by Kvonn Cramer (14 points, 5 rebounds), the first one a layup, started the run. The second was a dunk off a River Hawks turnover by Brooks, who was called for traveling. Evans chipped in with two free throws and it was a one-point game. They would take the lead for the first time in the half on a 3-point play from Timberlake with 6:18 left to make it 65-64.

From there, the game went back and forth keeping the crowd of 509 in Costello on the edge of their seats. Creamer tied the game again at 72-72 on a second chance basket that was the result of a UMass Lowell turnover. With 2:54 left it was a new game. Yuri Covington (12 on the night), with a layup off a Bryant turnover, gave UMass Lowell the lead back at 74-72 with 2:11 left. With 1:03 left, Bryant took the lead back on an Evans fast break basket to make it 75-74. The Bulldogs had an 11-6 advantage in fast break points. With 41 seconds left, Brooks gave the River Hawks the lead back at 76-75. A Pinzon short jumper with 23 seconds left gave Bryant the lead again at 77-76. Quinton Mincy (11 points) gave UML the lead with 4.1 seconds left at 78-77. Bryant called time out to draw up a play.

The inbounds pass came to Timberlake who dribbled the ball up the left-hand side. As he reached the paint, he tried to cut across the lane from left to right. As he was doing so, he tripped, fell to the floor, and rolled out of bounds. The official underneath the basket called a foul on Mincy with .7 seconds left. After a video review to see whether the foul came before the clock ran out, it was estimated that there was still time left. Timberlake went to the line and hit both free throws to give his team the lead at 79-78.

After a River Hawks timeout, they tried a long pass down the court that was deflected out of bounds as time expired. Bryant wins for the second time this season vs UMass Lowell, 79-78. Coach Duquette called this loss “The toughest loss I have endured since I have been here.” They have little time to reflect on it with a home game on Saturday afternoon vs Binghamton which will also be Senior Day for members of the team.