The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams continued their hot America East Conference play of late by sweeping UMass-Lowell on Thursday night. The women made it three wins in a row by defending their home court, while the men shocked the Riverhawks in overtime on the road in Lowell for their fifth straight victory.
In the women’s game at Memorial Gymnasium on Skip Chappelle Court in Orono- Maine put four players in double figures, and outscored UMass-Lowell 42-19 over the course of the second and third quarter to secure a 74-44 win.
With the Riverhawks down just 19-16 early in the second quarter, Maine would end the half on a 23-7 run to break it open. Paula Gallego had eight points during the spurt which included a pair of three-pointers. The hosts scored the first seven points of the third period on a three-pointer by Sera Hodgson, a fastbreak layup by Gallego, and a layup from Caroline Bornemann to stretch their advantage to 26. The Black Bears would build that to as many as 36 late in the game in winning their 18th straight home contest against America East opponents.
Caroline Dotsey (4-5 three-pointers) led the way in the Maine win with 20 points. She has reached double figures in four of her last five games. Bornemann finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Gallego ended up with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Asta Blauenfeldt also reached double figures chipping in 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Abbey Lindsey put in 16 points in the loss for UMass-Lowell, while Sydney Watkins contributed 11 points. The Riverhawks fall to 2-16 and 0-6 in America East. The Black Bears improve to 10-10 and 5-2 in conference play and will play at UNH next Thursday night at 6 p.m.
In the men’s game at the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Massachusetts- Quion Burns and AJ Lopez both had career-highs in points, and both made key plays down the stretch in lifting Maine to an exciting come from behind 86-85 overtime road win over UMass-Lowell.
The Riverhawks shot the lights out in the first half (69%) in building a 13 point lead, and an advantage of 10 at the break. Lopez (13 points) and Burns (11) were very efficient in the first half for the Black Bears to keep them within striking distance. Lopez scored the first 11 points of the night for his team.
Maine opened the second half on a 7-0 run on a three-pointer by Burns, and a jumper and two free throws by Lopez. After UMass-Lowell pushed it back to a six point lead, the guests jumped ahead for the first time since early in the first half with an 11-3 run capped off by two free throws by Burns with 10:12 left. A Burns three-pointer stretched the Black Bears lead to 69-65, before a layup in the paint by Quinton Mincey about four minutes later capped off a 10-4 spurt to make it 75-73 Riverhawks. Kellen Tynes answered 43 seconds later for Maine with a layup for the final points of regulation. Both teams had a chance to win it late but came up empty. Maybe the best opportunities came with a Jaden Clayton shot in the paint that missed with 20 seconds to go, and on the other end an attempt in the paint by Anthony Blunt was blocked by Tynes as the buzzer sounded sending it to overtime. UML built a pair of four point leads in the extra session, including on another shot in close at the basket by Mincey to make it 85-81 with 44 seconds showing on the clock. And that’s when Lopez took over to spur his team to the big road win. He converted a three-point play with 31.2 seconds left, and then with Maine in the full court trapping defense after the made free throw he came up with a steal and kissed a layup off the window and in just seconds later. The Riverhawks had two looks at a three-point attempt with their ensuing possession but both missed. Killan Gribben would then miss two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining, but the hosts attempt to try to win it after a timeout was a desperation halfcourt heave that came up short as time expired. It is the first road win at Lowell for the Black Bears since January 30, 2019 and also the longest win streak under head coach Chris Markwood.
Burns finished with 28 points (career-high), adding eight rebounds while shooting 3-7 on three-pointers and 7-7 at the foul line in the Maine win. Lopez had 27 points (also a career-high), adding two steals while shooting 4-5 on three-pointers and 5-5 at the line. Tynes contributed 16 points with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocked shots. Tynes was also great at the free throw stripe going 8-9, as the Black Bears as a team collectively went 21-25. Mincey had 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss for UMass-Lowell, while Max Brooks had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Cam Morris III and Quincey Clark also both got into double figures with 16 and 10 points respectively, as the Riverhawks fall to 13-7 and 2-3 in America East. It is only the third loss at home for UML since the beginning of the 2022 season (38-3), with the other two defeats coming to Vermont. Maine is now 13-8 and 5-1 in the conference, their best league start since the 2010-11 season (8-1). The Black Bears play host to UNH next Thursday in Orono at 6 p.m.
