LOWELL, Mass. -- The Mount Ida College men's basketball team dropped a 102-57 decision to Division 1 team UMass Lowell on Tuesday evening at the Costello Athletic Center.
Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) led the Mustangs (1-3) with 14 points, while Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.) and Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.) had ten points apiece.
As a whole, Mount Ida shot 34.4% (22-64) from the field, 29.4% (10-34) from three-point territory and 37.5% (3-8) from the foul line.
Sophomore Tyler Livingston (Hudson, N.H.) posted career highs with 23 points and 11 rebounds to lift UMass Lowell (4-2).
Livingston knocked down a personal-best five three-pointers in the victory en route to his first career double-double. He paced five double-digit scorers for the River Hawks, as the team shot a season-high 56.5% (35-62) from the floor. Redshirt-freshman Jahad Thomas (Williamsport, Pa.) added 16 points on the night, as well.
Mount Ida notched the first points of the outing, but Thomas scored five in a row to knot the score in the opening minutes. The teams traded baskets and were tied on three more occasions until Livingston hit a three from the wing to spark a 25-0 spurt for the River Hawks that spanned nine minutes, giving the home squad a 37-12 advantage with less than six minutes remaining in the first half. During the stretch, UMass Lowell hit five threes, including two from junior DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.).
Dujon broke the silence for the Mustangs with a three-pointer of his own, although back-to-back buckets by Thomas and two free throws by senior Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) helped the River Hawks take their largest lead of the half at 49-17 with 3:37 to play. Despite Mount Ida tallying five points in the waning minutes, UMass Lowell took a 49-24 lead into the break.
The Mustangs would chip away at the difference in the early part of the second half, using a pair of long balls to cut the difference to 20.
The River Hawks went on an 8-0 run to extend the buffer to 63-35 with 14:12 remaining in the half. The closest the visitors were able to come in the remaining portion of the game was within 23 points at 63-40 with 13:04 on the clock.
UMass Lowell eclipsed the 100-point plateau for the first time this season on a long ball from Livingston with 1:14 left before sealing the 102-57 win.
Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) had six points and he and Conner each dished out three assists.Cunningham, Clark, and Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) each had a team-high four rebounds, with DeFillippi adding six points as well.
As a team, UMass Lowell totaled a season-high 24 assists. Graduate student Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.), freshman Matt Harris (Erie, Pa.) and Mlachnik rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points apiece, marking season-highs for Mlachnik and Harris. Crawford tallied a personal-best nine rebounds, as well. The River Hawks shot 55.6% (15-27) from beyond the arc and 81.0% (17-21) from the line.
Tuesday's contest marked just the second meeting ever between UMass Lowell and Mount Ida in the sport of men's basketball. The River Hawks now lead the all-time series, 2-0.
Following the holiday break, Mount Ida will open up Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a trip to Johnson & Wales on December 2nd at 7:00 pm.
UMass Lowell will make the short trip to Boston University for a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, November 30.