Massachusetts-Lowell 71, UMBC 61

Point guard Akeem Williams scored a season-high 30 points as Massachusetts-Lowell completed a regular-season sweep of Maryland-Baltimore County with a 71-61 win Saturday in Catonsville, Md.

The River Hawks hit nine of 14 shots from beyond the 3-point arc to topple the Retrievers.

In its first season in Division I, Mass-Lowell (8-15, 6-5 America East) has adjusted nicely. With only one player in the rotation taller than 6-foot-5, Mass-Lowell often has to scramble. The River Hawks committed 25 turnovers, but won with shooting and defense. Mass-Lowell made 54 percent of its field goals, while harassing the Retrievers into 33 percent shooting from the floor.

UMBC (8-16, 4-7) got 26 points and five rebounds from freshman point guard Rodney Elliott, but none of the other Retrievers scored more than 10 points.

UMBC led early, but Mass-Lowell countered with hot shooting by Williams, who scored 10 of his points in the final 5:07 of the first half to transform a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead and after that the River Hawks never trailed. Williams finished four of five from 3-point range.

Shortly after intermission, freshman forward Tyler Livingston hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and later added a jumper as Mass-Lowell took its biggest lead, 43-30. With senior center Brett Roseboro powering for all eight of his points in the second half, the Retrievers cut the advantage to 54-50 with five minutes left.

But Mass-Lowell resumed control as Williams hit a pair of free throws and a jumper. When senior guard Antonio Bivins added a pair of free throws with 3:05 left, it completed an 8-0 run which had the River Hawks back in control at 62-50.

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