#3 UMass Lowell Staves Off Franklin Pierce, 76-60
River Hawks use second half run to claim victory at one-point halftime deficit
LOWELL, Mass. (January 25, 2003) - University of Massachusetts Lowell, ranked No. 3 in this week's NABC/Division II Bulletin Top 25 poll, used a decisive run midway through the second half in claiming a 76-60 victory over Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at Costello Gymnasium this evening.
Junior Elad Inbar led UMass Lowell with 16 points and six rebounds. Classmate Uri Grunwald totaled 13 points, aided by a seven-of-eight effort at the line, and five boards, while sophomore James Whytechipped in 13 points and seven rebounds.
Junior swingmanJimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) led all scorers with 29 points (18 second half) for Franklin Pierce to go along with seven rebounds and two steals. Hunt netted nearly half of the Ravens points in the contest and while he hit 10-14 from the field, including 6-9 from three-point range, the rest of his team shot a combined 27-percent (10-37) for the night.
Franklin Pierce, which led 26-25 at the break, shot just 38.5% (10-26) in the second half, compared to 51.6% (16-31) for the River Hawks, and also shot itself in the foot with 14 second half turnovers (22 total). UMass Lowell also out-rebounded the Ravens by a 45-29 margin. Franklin Pierce, which leads the Northeast-10 in free-throw percentage, hit just 55.6% (10-18) from the stripe tonight.
After trailing at the intermission, UMass Lowell held a 45-44 lead with 9:49 to play, then went on a 15-3 run led by a three-point bomb and a pair of free-throws by freshman Stacey Moragne and a pair of lay-ins by classmate Carl Benn off two steals.
Franklin Pierce was then only able to whittle the lead down to ten points on two occasions in the final minutes. While no other Ravens reached double-figures, junior Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) chipped in nine points, four assists and two steals. SeniorSharod Campbell (Dorchester, Mass./Boston English) snared a team-best eight rebounds.
Franklin Pierce (8-11, 6-8 NE-10) travels to face Granite State rival Southern New Hampshire University on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. UMass Lowell (16-1, 13-1 NE-10) visits LIU-Southampton on Tuesday at 7 p.m.