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Brown University
8-7
UMass Lowell
7-7
Brown's Defense Shuts Down UMass Lowell, 58-49
1/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Providence, R.I. – On a night when both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket, Brown utilized tenacious defense to hold UMass Lowell to 29-percent shooting from the field in a in a 58-49 win over the River Hawks Monday evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Sophomore guard JR Hobbie led Brown with 12 points as the Bears improved to 8-7 overall. UMass Lowell falls to 7-7 on the season.
Brown's eight non-league wins are just one shy of the school record of nine, held by the Bears 2001-2002 team.
"I'm always happy when we win," said Brown head coach Mike Martin. "We were outstanding defensively after the first few possessions, and had 15 straight stops in the first half."
Hobbie connected on 3-of-6 treys and 3-of-3 field goals. Sophomore forward Leland King scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Bears, while sophomore guard Steven Spieth added 10 points.
Junior Cedric Kuakumensah scored just four points for the Bears, but pulled down a game high 14 rebounds and blocked six shots. He vaulted into fourth place in all-time Ivy League blocked shots with 199 career blocks, moving past Chris Wiedemann (Columbia, 1999-03) and Geoff Owens (Penn, 1997-01).
"Cedric's impact was huge," added Martin. "UMass Lowell missed a lot of shots at the rim because of Cedric. He can hold a team down with his defense."
UMass Lowell shot 29-percent from the field on 19-of-50 shooting. Brown dominated the backboards, outrebounding the River Hawks by a 45-33 margin.
Matt Harris and Chad Holley netted 10 points each to lead UMass Lowell.
Trailing 17-13, with 9:17 left in the opening half, Brown took control of the game with a 14-0 run, holding the River Hawks scoreless for nearly nine minutes to grab a 27-17 lead following two free throws by Tyler Williams with 1:33 left.
UMass Lowell finally scored with 30 seconds left in the half on a lay-up by Lance Crawford. Two free throws by Bears' senior Dockery Walker gave the Bears a 29-19 lead at intermission.
The Bears built a 15-point advantage, 48-33, with nine minutes left in the game before the River Hawks started to chip away at the Brown lead.
UMass Lowell rallied to cut Brown's lead to just six points, 49-43, on two free throws by Matt Harris at the 5:15 mark.
A layup by King and two free throws each by sophomore Tavon Blackmon and Kuakumensah put the Bears back in control, 55-43, with just under four minutes to play.
Brown travels to Durham, New Hampshire to face New Hampshire on Thursday, January 8, with a 7pm tip-off.
