The University of Maine and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell played a America East home and home men’s/women’s basketball doubleheader on Wednesday night. At the end of the evening, it was a conference sweep for the Riverhawks.
At the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Maine had an eight point first half lead but UMass-Lowell rallied to take a halftime lead and never trailed again in a 71-62 America East men’s basketball win.
Kristians Feierbergs had a big night for Maine (3-12, 0-4 America East) with a team high 22 points, hitting a three-pointer to give the Black Bears a 14-6 advantage with 11:29 left in the first half. The Riverhawks though, who led very early 4-2, took the lead for good 20-18 when Justin Faison hit a pair of free throws with 4:43 to go. The hosts led 29-26 at the halftime break. UML (10-7, 2-3 AE) starting to pull away some in the second half for the biggest lead of the night at 55-41 with 8:41 to play. Maine sliced it all the way down to 62-60 with a 10-0 run finished off with a layup from Peter Filipovity with 1:44 remaining. A layup by Ayinde Hikim and a 7-8 effort from the line in the last 1:21 however iced it for the Riverhawks.
Feierbergs also added 11 rebounds to his team high point total in the Maine loss. The Black Bears still haven’t won this season against a Division I opponent (0-12). Maks Klanjscek added 13 points and four rebounds, while Filipovity and Ja’Shon Wright-McLeish chipped in eight points a piece. Allin Blunt led UMass-Lowell with a game high 23 points. Kalil Thomas had 13 points and six rebounds, and Faison finished with 11 points. Maine will host UMBC on Saturday.
At the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine rallied back in the second half but fell just short in a 60-55 loss to UMass-Lowell in America East women’s basketball action.
Maine raced out early to a 7-2 lead, before UMass-Lowell rallied back with the last five points of the first quarter and took the lead for good on a late foul shot by Denise Solis 15-14. The visiting Riverhawks led by as many as nine in the second, and by a 27-22 score at halftime. The biggest advantage was built to start the second half when UML scored eight straight to begin the period making it 35-22. The Bears got back within four on a Penelope Castillo layup in the paint with 2:33 remaining at 40-36, before Lowell scored the last four in a row to take a 44-36 lead to the fourth quarter. The hosts made one more run at it trailing by as many as 11 early in the final period they would cut it to three on two different occasions, with two from the line by Anne Simon with 59 seconds left, and then a three-pointer by Simon with 27 seconds to go. Simon, who had a big night with a game high 24 points, got Maine within 57-55 with a layup with 18 seconds showing on the clock. 1-2 from the line by UMass-Lowell stretched it to three again and instead of a three point attempt for a possible tie by the Bears, Alba Orois missed a two pointer in the paint and the Riverhawks got fouled and sunk two free throws on the other end to sew up the victory. Maine falls to 6-10, 3-3 in America East and is also now just 2-7 on their home floor this season.
Simon added three rebounds to her point total in the Maine loss, and was only 1-7 from the three-point arc. The Bears as a team shot just 2-15 on the night from the arc. Simon was the only double digit scorer, as Adrianna Smith also chipped in nine points and six rebounds. Solis had 13 points in the win for UMass-Lowell, and Ivory Finley had 12. The Riverhawks improve to 5-7, 2-1 in conference play. Maine is at UMBC to battle the Retrievers Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m.
