Mincey, River Hawks net thrilling OT win
LOWELL >> Senior Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.) registered a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds, as the Umass Lowell men’s basketball team outlasted No. 7 UMBC in overtime, 94-89, in a gritty, back-and-forth battle to open the 2024 America East playoffs.
In a game that featured 14 tied scores and 13 lead changes, the River Hawks (21-9) never trailed in overtime.
Knotted at 76-76, senior Yuri Covington (Wilkes-barre, Pa.) tallied the first four points of the extra period ahead of buckets from senior Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.) and sophomore Brayden O’connor (Ottawa, Ontario) during an 8-1 River Hawk run. O’connor and senior Ayinde Hikim (Washington, D.C.) kept a two-possession buffer for the home team, but a string of five straight points from UMBC’S Marcus Banks made it 87-84 with less than a minute to go. However, Umass Lowell held on to close out the decision with seven more made free throws and a block in the waning seconds from Brooks.
“This was a great atmosphere and a great college basketball playoff game,” said UML head coach Pat Duquette. “I give a ton of credit to UMBC. That’s a testament to how good our conference is top to bottom when that’s the seventh-place team. They gave us all we could handle and made these guys play really, really well. I don’t think it was a night where we had our best. We turned the ball over too much, they caused some of that with the way they play, but we handled it better in the second half. I thought we had to win the game twice. It’s hard to go into overtime and win it again, so I’m proud of my guys for that and it’s always great to advance to the semifinals.”
The River Hawks advance to the America East semifinals for the third time in four years, and will host No. 3 Bryant on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Umass Lowell also remains undefeated in Division I home playoff games and will bring the semifinals to Lowell for the second consecutive year.
Women’s lacrosse
CLINTON, S.C. — Senior Megan Brockbank (Bayport, N.Y.) tallied four goals and three assists, as the Umass Lowell women’s lacrosse team took down Presbyterian, 15-4.
The River Hawks (80) have already set the program record for most wins in a season. The victory continues the best win streak in team history while also moving the team to 6-0 away from home, the best road record in the nation.
“Tough conditions where we struggled to find our footing on attack, but we managed to string enough good plays together to come away with a win,” said UML head coach Lisa Miller. “The defense was once again stout. A good spring break and we are ready to return home.”
Brockbank, who finished one point shy of the program high, was one of seven goal-scorers for the River Hawks. Freshman Chloe Bowers (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) filled the box score with four goals, two ground balls, and a draw control.
Freshman Jillian Goldie (Owen Sound, Ontario) rounded out the multi-goal scorers with two.
Men’s lacrosse
LOWELL — Six different River Hawks recorded a goal, but the Umass Lowell men’s lacrosse team fell to the Fairfield Stags, 14-6.
Freshman James Donnelly (Ottawa, Ontario) led the offense with a goal and an assist for two points for UML (0-5). Seniors Justin Longo (Kingston, N.Y.) and Curtis Redd (Amherst, N.H.), junior Riley Lawhorn (Amherst, N.H.), sophomore Jackson Dean (Deer Park, Wash.), and freshman Colby Frigon (Providence, R.I.) each tallied a goal and freshman Jayden Consigli (Franklin) contributed with an assist.
In net, graduate student Mark Pav (South Setauket, N.Y.) made 13 saves in net and sophomore Luke Renaud (Skaneateles, N.Y.) tallied four saves in relief.
Track
BOSTON — Graduate
student Kenzie Doyle (Swansea) of the Umass Lowell women’s track & field team competed along some of the top 5K runners in the nation on Friday night at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at TRACK at New Balance, becoming a Second Team All-american.
Although she did not run her best time of her career, Doyle ran hard against the stiff competition, claiming 14th place with a time of 15:49.30 to cap off a successful season.