Worcester, Mass. (January 21) -- After rallying late to cut the lead down to three points in the final minute, the Assumption men's basketball team came up just short in a 72-69 loss to visiting UMass Lowell on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference play at Laska Gym.

The River Hawks held an eight-point lead on three occasions in the first half, including by a 34-26 margin with 5:09 left in the opening period. A quick 6-0 scoring run, capped by a layup from Ryan Rozsnaki (Montreal, Quebec/Landstown) with 1:49 left, cut the lead back down to two at 34-32 with 1:49 left. UMass Lowell's Akeem Williams scored the last three points of the half though as the River Hawks took the 37-32 edge into the break. The River Hawks were buoyed by nine three-pointers in the half as they ended the game with 11 triples.

In the second half, UMass Lowell held at least a four-point lead over the first 15 minutes of the period and led by as many as nine points before the Hounds mounted a rally. With 2:51 left, Assumption closed the gap to one at 66-65 after a three-pointer from Tim Beinert (Bellerose  Village, N.Y./Holy Cross), the closest the Hounds had been since the opening minutes. The Hounds were still within two with 1:07 left after a pair of free throws from freshman Jimmy Zenevitch (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic), followed by a steal by Rozsnaki to give the Hounds the ball with 32.7 seconds left. A three-pointer from Beinert was wide and the River Hawks pulled down the board, but Dipanjot Singh converted just one free throw to give the Hounds one last chance. One last three-point attempt at the buzzer came up just short as the Hounds fell by a 72-69 final.

Senior Kevin Donahue (Pawcatuck, Conn./Stonington) led the team with 21 points, along with 17 from Zenevitch, 15 from Beinert and 11 from Cory Schmidt (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh). Williams led the River Hawks with 25 points.

With the loss, the Hounds fall to 7-10 overall and 5-8 in the Northeast-10, while the River Hawks improve to 12-5 overall and 8-5 in the league.

Assumption is back in action on Wednesday, January 25th as the Hounds host Saint Michael's for a 7:30 p.m. start at Laska Gym.