Moragne and Whyte lead River
Hawks to tough win
LOWELL, Mass. (February 21,
2005) - The University of Massachusetts Lowell rallied
from three-points down with 2:40 to play in regulation to force
overtime and out-scored Franklin Pierce 7-1 at the free-throw line
in the extra period to collect a 74-70 victory in Northeast-10
Conference men's basketball action at Costello Gymnasium tonight.
Both teams return to action for
first round action of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament on
Saturday. Seventh-seeded UMass Lowell (18-9, 14-8 NE-10) hosts
tenth seeded Merrimack College (13-14, 9-13 NE-10) at 2 p.m.
11th-seeded Franklin Pierce (9-18, 7-15 NE-10) visits
sixth-seeded Bryant University (19-7, 15-7 NE-10) also at 2p.m.
Junior Stacey Moragne
(Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) led the River
Hawks with 24 points (13 first half) on eight-of-16 shooting from
the field, including 2-3 from three-point range, to go with a 6-8
effort at the line, eight rebounds and two assists. Senior
James Whyte (Vancouver, British Columbia)
added 19 points, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks, while
junior Carl Benn (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Lawrence Woodmere
Academy) registered 14 points, seven boards, three
assists and two steals.
Junior Justin Powell
(Brookline, Mass./Brookline) led Franklin Pierce with
23 points (one shy of his career-high), five rebounds, four assists
and two blocks. He hit 8-of-12 from the floor and canned 6-7
free-throw attempts. Classmate Pierre Sully (Jamaica
Plain, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic) totaled 19
points on 9-16 shooting from the field, six rebounds, three assists
and three steals. Sophomore Darryl Minnifield (Boston,
Mass./Brookline) registered 11 points, five boards,
three assists and three steals.
The Ravens led by as much as seven
(32-25) after a Powell three-pointer with 4:15 to play in the first
half, but settled for a three-point lead (38-35) at the break.
Trailing by five (42-37) after a Sully lay-up 2:29 into the second
half, UMass Lowell posted a 16-6 run to open a five-point lead
(53-48) after a Wesley Platt (Jamaica Plain,
Mass./North Cambridge Catholic) three with 12:29 to
play.
A 7-0 Franklin Pierce run gave the
Ravens a three-point lead (59-56) after a Sully lay-up with 6:01
left. The River Hawks used a 5-0 spurt to take a two-point lead
(63-61) with 1:32 left on a Benn lay-up. Sully hit a runner to knot
the score with 61-seconds left, but Benn missed a three with
33-seconds left to allow the Ravens a chance to win the game.
However, Johnson missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
UMass Lowell took charge in the
extra session and opened a four-point lead (67-63) on a pair of
Moragne free-throws 1:27 in. Powell converted a conventional
three-point play to pull the Ravens within a point (71-70) with
57-seconds left, but after the Ravens failed to come up with a
defensive rebound, they were forced to foul. Brandon
Arnette (Lake Park, Fla./Tilton School) hit two free
throws and the Ravens had a chance to tie, but a Nazim
Senaldi (Istanbul, Turkey) three was off the mark to
knot the score and Moragne hit one-of-two free throws to seal the
win.
BOX
SCORE
