Athletics
Saint Michael's
Vermont
Saint Michael's
C.W. Post
at Stonehill Tip-Off Classic at Stonehill Tip-Off Classic
Saint Michael's
Caldwell
at Stonehill Tip-Off Classic at Stonehill Tip-Off Classic
Saint Michael's
Mass.-Lowell
Concordia (N.Y.)
Saint Michael's
Men's Basketball
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February 3, 2010
Men's Basketball Falls In Overtime At UMass Lowell, 85-82
Box score: http://www.smcathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/mstmuml.htm.
LOWELL, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team (8-12, 4-12 Northeast-10 Conference) couldn't hold on to a 24-point second half lead in suffering an 85-82 overtime loss at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Wednesday evening.
Freshman Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) tallied a team-high 25 points and added eight rebounds in the loss. Sophomore Sam Cieplicki (South Burlington, Vt./New Hampton (N.H.) School) added a career-high 20 points off the bench, making 6-of-7 3-pointers, while classmate Qua'ron Pinckney (Bronx, N.Y./Saint Benedict's Prep (N.J.) recorded 14 points and five assists. The Purple Knights shot a blistering 56 percent from the field in the contest, including 11-of-25 from beyond the arc, but were undone by 27 turnovers.
For UMass Lowell (14-7, 11-5 NE-10), Kyle Caiola scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor.
Saint Michael's raced out of the gates, taking a 24-2 lead six minutes into the contest, and a commanding 41-20 lead at halftime. The Purple Knights shot 61 percent in the first half (17-of-28), compared to just 30 percent for UMass Lowell (8-of-27).
The Purple Knights stretched their lead to a game-high 24 points, 61-37, following a Cieplicki 3-pointer with 11 minutes left in regulation. UMass Lowell, however, then went on a 28-7 run over the next seven minutes, pulling to within 67-65 following a jumper with 3:53 to go in the second half. UMass Lowell pulled even for the first time at 72-all on a three-point play with 1:28 remaining in the second period, and Caiola's jumper with 43 seconds left in the period gave the River Hawks their first lead of the game, 74-73. Two Caiola free throws with nine seconds left in regulation pushed UMass Lowell's lead to 76-73, but Cieplicki drained a 3-pointer four seconds later to even the score and force overtime.
In the extra session, a three-point play from Saint Michael's junior Nate Birr (Burnsville, Minn./Saint Thomas Academy) with 3:43 left opened the overtime scoring, but UMass Lowell then scored the next seven points in a three-minute span to lead 83-79 with 44 seconds to go. Cieplicki's sixth 3-pointer of the game with 10 seconds on the clock cut the Purple Knights' deficit to 83-82, and following two RIver Hawk free throws, Pinckney's potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer went wide, handing Saint Michael's its fourth straight loss.
Saint Michael's returns to action on Saturday, as the Purple Knights host nationally-ranked Bentley University at 3:30 p.m. at the Ross Sports Center.
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