Bulldogs Win Seventh-Straight; Defeat Lowell 57-52 Wednesday

February 2, 2005

LOWELL, MASS - Mario Correia and Mike Williams scored 16 points each as the Bryant men's basketball won its seventh-straight game, 57-52 over UMass Lowell Wednesday night.

The win for the Bulldogs also snaps a five game losing skid to the River Hawks and marks the first Bryant win at Lowell since the 1995-96 season.

UMass Lowell led 35-29 at the half but thanks to ice-cold shooting by the River Hawks, the Bulldogs opened the second half outscoring the hosts 13-0 as UML went without a basket in the first nine minutes.

A Brandon Arnette floater in the lane with 11:15 left in the game was the first bucket for the River Hawks as Bryant held a 42-37 lead midway through the half.

UMass Lowell (13-9, 9-8 NE-10) would climb back to tie the game at 50-50 following a basket and a foul underneath from Stacy Morange. Moragne would hit the foul shot but on two free throws by John Williams and a Mike Williams short pull-up jumper would put the Bulldogs up 53-50.

Another 10-footer by Moragne with 28.1 seconds left pulled UMass Lowell back to within a point at 53-52, but John Williams hit two more free throws and Moragnes' three-pointer with 12 seconds left rimmed out and the Bulldogs would hold on. Moragne led all scorers with 20 points in the game and grabbed seven rebounds.

Bryant shot 38.9 percent from the floor and made only 3-of-20 from three, but the Bulldogs did a good job on the glass, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds in the game. Dan Hammond had five offensive boards, finishing with eight total.

The win for the Bulldogs also avenges last year's 65-62 loss to the River Hawks in the NCAA Regional Final.

Bryant (14-6, 10-6 NE-10) will host Southern N.H. on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center.