Trevor Cullen
Connector Editor

the teams’ last doubleheader of the season at the Tsongas Center.

It was the women’s last home game of the season, but they were unable to turn the energy they gained from a pre-game senior night celebration into a win, losing 79-68. The men also were unable to grab a victory, falling to Stony Brook 78-68.

The lady River Hawks played first, scoring the first three points and holding the lead for almost the whole half.

The second half was a different story, as the River Hawks were unable to hold their lead, relinquishing it just four minutes into the second stanza. Stony Brook widened their lead to as much as 15 points, making a comeback effort futile.

The River Hawks continued to play hard and cut the lead to seven, but the Sea Wolves just proved to be too strong and were able to outlast UMass Lowell.

The River Hawks’ Shannon Samuels scored 35 points in the contest and was helped out by teammate Lindsey Doucette, who scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 27 minutes of play. Senior Lauren Fiola went out shooting, scoring nine points and pulling in eight rebounds in her final home game.

The men took the court for the second game of the doubleheader and were looking to rebound from a tough road loss to Vermont on Wednesday. A rough first half saw the River Hawks down by as many as 13 points, and the Sea Wolves enjoyed an eight point lead at halftime.

The River Hawks sank 10 of 15 three-pointers in the second half, but it did not end up being enough, as Stony Brook still was able to balloon their lead to as much as 21. Following the ladies example from the earlier game, the men rallied for a comeback that cut Stony Brooks lead to seven with just minutes to go, but again, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

Akeem Williams led the River Hawks with a balanced stat line, scoring 20 points to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds. Antonio Bivins had nine points and five rebounds.

The River Hawks bench was impressive in the game, led by Mark Cornelius who had 13 points and four rebounds off the bench. Carlos Taylor had the game of his season coming off the bench to score 15 points thanks to 5-6 shooting from beyond the three point arc.