The University of Maine men’s basketball team scored the final five points in the last 30 seconds to pick up the overtime victory over UMass Lowell on Thursday night, 86-85.
Maine jumped out to an early 11-6 lead as AJ Lopez scored all 11 of the opening points for the Black Bears on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
The two sides remained close throughout the first half before the River Hawks got out to a double-digit lead at 43-33 with just over three minutes to go on the back of an 8-0 run.
UMass Lowell took its double-digit lead into the break at 48-38.
AJ Lopez had a game-high 13 points in the first half, while Quion Burns had 11 as both shot at least 50 percent from the field. Jaden Clayton had 3 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Maine opened the second half up on a 7-0 run as it cut the deficit down to just three at 48-45.
The Black Bears retook the lead at the 10:12 mark in the second half after having tied up the contest on two separate occasions before Burns buried a pair of free throws to make it 63-61.
The two sides traded buckets down the stretch as neither side was able to grab more than a four-point lead over the course of the final 10 minutes.
The two sides would both miss a shot with under 30 seconds remaining to force overtime as the score was locked up at 75-75.
After trailing 85-81 with under a minute to go, the Black Bears came roaring back as they scored the final five points of the contest and picked up the victory.
The win was the team’s fifth straight victory, the longest conference winning streak under Coach Chris Markwood and its first victory at UMass Lowell since the 2018-19 season.
Burns finished with a career-high and game-high 28 points while Lopez also set a career-high in scoring as he had 27 points.
Clayton finished with 7 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals while Kellen Tynes scored 16 points and had a pair of steals.
Quinton Mincey led UMass Lowell with 20 points. Max Brooks scored 19 points and led the team with 10 rebounds, while Cam Morris III added another 16 points for the River Hawks.
Maine (13-8, 5-1 in America East) returns to Orono to host the New Hampshire Wildcats in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle on Thursday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
