LOWELL, Mass. – Sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) led four scorers in double figures with 19 points, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team was edged out by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, 82-79, Wednesday evening at Costello Gymnasium.
The Hawks drop to 2-7 on the season, including 0-6 in Northeast-10 play, while the River Hawks improve to 6-3, 3-3.
Harris was 8-for-13 from the field to go along with three rebounds. Senior Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y.) scored 15-plus for the third straight game as he netted 17 on 5 of 7 shooting, including 3 of 5 from behind the arc. Freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) hit for 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting and added four assists and a career-best five steals. Sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) set a new career high with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 2 of 3 from deep. Mallios also handed out seven assists, set a career high with five steals and tied his career best with five rebounds.
During his career-best three-game double-digit scoring streak, Williams is averaging 15.7 points per game on 69.6 percent (16-23) shooting, including 64.3 percent (9-14) from behind the arc, and is a perfect 6 of 6 at the line.
UMass Lowell scored the first eight points of the game before taking what would be their largest lead of the game at 11-2 just 3:21 in. The Hawks scored seven straight points to cut their deficit to a pair at the 14:13 mark. After layup from Akeem Williams pushed the lead to four, consecutive 3-pointers from Mabrey and Williams gave Saint Anselm its first lead of the night at 15-13 with 12:44 remaining.
There were three ties and three lead changes over the following four minutes before an 8-0 run – with six points from Antonio Bivins – opened up a 27-19 lead for the River Hawks with 6:41 to play.
The Hawks trailed by nine when a 10-0 run that was capped by a Williams trey gave them a one-point lead at 33-32. After a Robbie Walton layup, Saint Anselm reeled off a 9-2 run that was finished off by another Williams 3-pointer that capped the first half scoring with six seconds on the clock and sent the Hawks into the break with a 42-36 advantage. Williams led all scorers with 13 at the half.
Saint Anselm extended the run to 11-2 and opened its lead to eight on a layup by senior Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) just 14 seconds into the second half. The Hawks still led by eight when five straight points by UMass Lowell sliced it to three at 46-43 with 16:40 remaining.
The deficit was just two at 67-65 later in the half when an 8-2 run gave the River Hawks a 75-69 lead with 4:38 left. They took the lead for good on a Williams layup with 7:01 to play. The Hawks scored five straight to cut it to one with 3:08 on the clock, but UML returned the favor with five straight of their own to make it 80-74 with 2:03 to go.
Saint Anselm would climb to within a pair on a Williams jumper with 42 seconds left and had a chance to tie it with one second left after Walton made one of two at the line, but their 3-pointer came up short and the River Hawks nabbed the victory.
Keough posted eight points and eight boards.
UMass Lowell outshot Saint Anselm, 53.3 percent (32-60) to 46.4 percent (26-56), including 51.6 percent (16-31) to 37.9 percent (11-29) in the second half. The River Hawks also held a 39-25 advantage on the glass and outscored the Hawks in the paint, 36-28.
Williams led the River Hawks with 26 points.
The Hawks return to action Friday, Dec. 30 at 3 p.m. when they hit the road to take on Bloomfield College. The next home game for the Hawks will be Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 5:30 p.m. when they play host to the College of Saint Rose at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
