(Photo courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics) “Senior Austin Green rises up to finish his layup against two Rivier defenders.”

Jake Messer

Connector Editor

On Monday, Nov. 3, UMass Lowell dismantled Rivier University by a score of 107-55 in their regular season opener at home. Senior student Austin Green led the team to the win with 21 points, shooting 9-13 from the field. This marks the sixth straight year that Lowell has opened the season with a victory. The result was never in any doubt, but the journey to get there began long before tipoff.

Thanks in part to players transferring and graduating last season, the River Hawks only have one player who clocked minutes for last year’s squad, sophomore Keenan Bey, who registered 31 minutes of playtime. This isn’t to say the River Hawks will be terrible this year; far from it, as the America East Preseason coaches’ poll has Lowell finishing in fourth place. That’s not bad at all for a team with 10 new players on the roster, and Head Coach Duquette, who is entering his 13th season with Lowell, has faith that this team will come together and play up to their fullest potential.

“We got a good number of transfers and guys with experience, so that’s been a plus,” says Duquette. “We definitely have more size, and we’re more athletic up front than our past teams have been. Those are two areas that have been good right from the start.”

Indeed they have been, as the River Hawks showed off that size and athleticism early against the Raiders with Green grabbing his own rebound over the defender and laying it up himself for the first bucket of the game. Green would score again off a nice feed from junior Jared Frey. The hot start would conclude when junior guard Darrel Yepdo, from Dracut, Mass., set up junior Shawn Simmons II for the two-handed flush, energizing the River Hawk faithful.

Halfway through the first, the River Hawks looked solid despite 3 turnovers. However, the one thing that was giving them trouble was rebounding. Lowell was losing that battle to Rivier 12-11, keeping the game close when the Raiders took their first timeout at 20-13 points.

With 7:52 left before halftime, the River Hawks made excellent plays. With active hands and fast feet, Lowell held Rivier to shooting 5-21 from the field and had three steals, resulting in seven points. With Lowell calling their first timeout, they huddled up to a 29-15 lead.

Heading into halftime, Lowell’s lead began to slip. A combination of nine turnovers with six missed free-throws allowed Rivier to creep back into the game. The Raiders capitalized on the mistakes, and by the sound of the halftime horn, the score was 42-32 in favor of Lowell.

“I thought we gave up too many points defensively,” Coach Duquette says. “I didn’t think guys were playing as comfortably, and I saw some out-of-character plays.”

Coming out of the half, Lowell went on a 15-5 run with Yepdo burying a corner three and throwing a dime to Simmons II who laid it up and in for the score. Green, who was taking over the game, was also active during this run as well, banking home two layups and grabbing a tough rebound. The River Hawks looked more focused and ready to play their style of basketball after the break.

With a little over 11 minutes left, Lowell was beginning to pull away for good. With more dominance on the offensive board and no turnovers in the half up until this point, the River Hawks were up big by a score of 68-39.

The game would continue with such, as the River Hawks enforced their will all over the court and continued pouring it on. The game would end with a Lowell victory, sending the fans home happy.

The two players that stood out in the opener were junior Khalil Farmer, who finished the night with an efficient 14 points on 4-5 shooting from the field, and Green, who registered a double-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists. He was undoubtedly the player of the game and looked phenomenal in his River Hawks debut.

Even with the nice start to the season, Coach Duquette knows this is just the start of a long journey for this team. “Simple plays helped us tonight,” says coach Duquette. “We found the right guys and shared the ball correctly. We didn’t care who scored; we just made the right play. It’s a good lesson to learn on our first night out, something we can take with us when we take on UConn on Friday.”