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Massachusetts-Lowell 71, UMBC 61
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Feb 2022
Point guard Akeem Williams scored a season-high 30 points as Massachusetts-Lowell completed a regular-season sweep of Maryland-Baltimore County with a 71-61 win Saturday in Catonsville, Md.
The River Hawks hit nine of 14 shots from beyond the 3-point arc to topple the Retrievers.
In its first season in Division I, Mass-Lowell (8-15, 6-5 America East) has adjusted nicely. With only one player in the rotation taller than 6-foot-5, Mass-Lowell often has to scramble. The River Hawks committed 25 turnovers, but won with shooting and defense. Mass-Lowell made 54 percent of its field goals, while harassing the Retrievers into 33 percent shooting from the floor.
UMBC (8-16, 4-7) got 26 points and five rebounds from freshman point guard Rodney Elliott, but none of the other Retrievers scored more than 10 points.
UMBC led early, but Mass-Lowell countered with hot shooting by Williams, who scored 10 of his points in the final 5:07 of the first half to transform a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead and after that the River Hawks never trailed. Williams finished four of five from 3-point range.
Shortly after intermission, freshman forward Tyler Livingston hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and later added a jumper as Mass-Lowell took its biggest lead, 43-30. With senior center Brett Roseboro powering for all eight of his points in the second half, the Retrievers cut the advantage to 54-50 with five minutes left.
But Mass-Lowell resumed control as Williams hit a pair of free throws and a jumper. When senior guard Antonio Bivins added a pair of free throws with 3:05 left, it completed an 8-0 run which had the River Hawks back in control at 62-50.
