UMass Lowell Snaps Four Game Skid with 91-77 Win Over Maine

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It was a great day to be a fan of the UMass Lowell River Hawks (9–14, 4–4) on Saturday afternoon as they played before a sold-out crowd at the Kennedy Family Athletic Center. The 91–77 win over the Maine Black Bears (5–18, 3–5) was as impressive a performance as you will see on a basketball court. The River Hawks placed four players in double figures, led by a career-high 30 points from Angel Montas Jr., but it was the way Lowell dominated the interior that really told the story.

The game was won in the paint, where UMass Lowell outscored the Black Bears by a 60–48 margin. Freshman JJ Massaquoi was a force off the bench, providing all 19 of the River Hawks’ bench points, every one of which came in the painted area. Lowell’s dominance on the glass was even more staggering, as they outrebounded Maine 45–11. The Black Bears did not grab their 10th board of the game until only 7:52 remained in the second half. The River Hawks held a 17–1 advantage on the offensive glass; the lone offensive rebound for Maine was recorded by Ace Flagg midway through the first half. Consequently, Maine failed to score a single second-chance point, while Lowell converted their opportunities for a 20–0 shutout in that category. River Hawks head coach Pat Duquette expressed his disbelief at the stats after the game, noting he had never seen a rebounding margin quite like it.

While the “bully ball” approach worked, the performance was not without its flaws. The River Hawks turned the ball over 18 times—well above their season average of 13—which Maine converted into 30 points. The Black Bears also recorded 14 steals, nearly doubling their season average. Despite these errors, Lowell played with a consistent intensity that lasted the full 40 minutes. Maine’s best stretch occurred at the very start when they jumped out to a 5–0 lead behind a Logan Carey layup and a Ryan Mabrey three-pointer. Carey finished with a team-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting, but once Montas Jr. gave Lowell a 12–11 lead at the 15:16 mark of the first half, the Black Bears never led again.

The Lowell backcourt duo of Montas Jr. and Darrel Yepdo (17 points on 6-of-8 shooting) combined for 27 points in the first half alone, helping the River Hawks into the locker room with a 43–31 advantage. In the second half, Lowell maintained a double-digit cushion that swelled to over 20 points on three separate occasions, peaking at a 21-point lead following a Montas Jr. layup with 6:15 remaining. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for UMass Lowell while ending Maine’s two-game winning streak.

After the game, Montas Jr. credited his teammates for finding him in rhythm, while Yepdo pointed to the team’s renewed effort in practice as the catalyst for the win. Along with the standouts, Lowell received 15 points from Xavier Spencer, while Maine saw 17-point contributions from both Mekhi Gray and TJ Biel. UMass Lowell now turns its attention to a two-game road trip starting Thursday night at NJIT before heading to UAlbany on Saturday. Maine will look to bounce back at home as they host Vermont on Thursday night.