Lowell knocks UMaine out of America East men’s basketball tournament
In the University of Maine men’s basketball team’s first playoff game since the 2019-2020 season, the Black Bears didn’t have enough to overcome the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks.
The No. 2 River Hawks (25-7) earned a 85-54 quarterfinal victory over the seventh-seeded Black Bears (13-17) in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament. UMaine was looking for its first conference tournament victory since 2005.
Lowell’s Abdoul Karim Coulibaly earned his second foul less than two minutes into the game and immediately went to the bench. The loss for the River Hawks looked like an opportunity for UMaine but Lowell’s bench players stepped up to the challenge.
Lowell’s bench outscored UMaine’s 26-3 in the first half and was so dominant that Coulibaly only played those first two minutes of the first half.
Gedi scored back-to-back buckets a few minutes into the half to give the Black Bears an early 8-7 advantage, but it would turn out to be the last time UMaine held the lead.
The River Hawks went on an 18-2 run to take a 25-10 lead on a jumper from freshman Brayden O’Connor, who scored 11 points in the first half off the bench.
O’Connor led Lowell with 14 as four different players on the River Hawks finished in double figures.
Lowell took a 44-26 lead into the half over UMaine.
“I am really happy because we have had big leads at the half before and we let them go, so we held on today,” Lowell coach Pat Duquette said after the game.
Lowell shot incredibly well in the first half from the field at 58.6% and 5-8 from behind the 3-point line. UMAine shot just 11-26 from the floor.
Juozapaitis shot 5-7 over the first 20 minutes and paced UMaine with 11 points.
Coulibaly started the second half with Lowell and scored four free throws early as part of a 9-2 start for the River Hawks. The big man for the River Hawks scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
Tynes scored twice near the rim and Wright-McLeish, who also had two early fouls and played little time in the first half, hit a mid-range jumper that cut Lowell’s lead to 58-32 with 15 minutes left.
Juozapaitis hit a turnaround fadeaway from the left elbow to cut the deficit to 21 for UMaine with 10 minutes left in the game, his first points of the second half. On the ensuing Lowell possession, Max Brooks dunked and, just like so many other times during the game, stopped the Black Bears’ momentum in their tracks.
Juozapaitis paced UMaine with 16 points, while Tynes added 11 points and two steals, becoming the program’s leader in steals in a single season with 97.