DURHAM, N.H. – Down by as many as 16, the No. 6 seeded UMass Lowell men’s basketball team (9-11) turned in an impressive, second-half performance on both sides of the ball to defeat No. 7 Stony Brook (9-14), 64-62, in the first round of the 2021 America East Playoffs on Saturday in Durham.

The win sets up a quarterfinal round meeting today at 1 p.m. between the River Hawks and host No.3 University of New Hampshire at Lundholm Gym.

Saturday’s performance not only marks the team’s first ever post-season victory at the Division I level, but its largest second-half comeback, as well. Additionally, the River Hawk defense held the Seawolves to just 19 points in the second, good for a new record this season.

“This was such an exciting win for our team,” said Head Coach Pat Duquette. “Especially in this year, to even get this far, nobody knew how the season was going to progress, and we had so many challenges, ups and downs. But I always felt like we were in a good place heading into the playoffs.”

Stony Brook, who led for almost 30 minutes thanks to 67% (8-12) shooting from three-point range in the first half, led for the final time with less than a minute to go in regulation before junior Allin Blunt (Bowie, Md.) tied the game at 62-62 with a pair of crucial free throws. The River Hawks then forced a big turnover and got the ball to senior captain Obadiah Noel (Frederick, Md.) for what would be the game-winning layup with five seconds on the clock.

Noel paced UMass Lowell with 23 points, while sophomore Kalil Thomas (New Orleans, La.) chipped in with 15 and classmate Connor Withers (Manassas, Va.) added 11.

UNH WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM WINS OPENER

Freshman outside hitter Gabby Smith (Carmel, Ind.) notched 15 kills in her collegiate debut to lead the University of New Hampshire volleyball team to a 3-1 season-opening victory against NJIT at University Gym on the campus of UAlbany on Saturday night. The set scores were 25-14, 20-25, 25-17 and 25-13.

Smith hit at a .355 clip for the match, while adding three digs and two blocks.

Junior Abby Sullivan (Methuen, Mass.) added 10 kills for the Wildcats, while hitting .333 and adding five blocks in the win for UNH. Sullivan registered the set clinching kill in the first frame and had another kill at match point in the fourth frame to seal the win for the Wildcats. Sophomore right side Hannah Crist (Cicero, Ind.) chipped in with nine kills, a .240 hitting percentage and four blocks.

“Tonight’s win was reward for many reasons, first and foremost, our program recognizes the hard work that has been put into allow the fall sports to compete during the spring semester,” said UNH Head Coach Christopher Feliciano.” “It’s important that our efforts are worthy of the commitment from the administration to student-athlete experience.”

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