Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Some notes and news related to the UMass Lowell men's basketball team that didn't fit into the latest game story.

- LIES, DAMN LIES, AND STATISTICS: The Owls came into Costello Gymnasium with a 1-13 record, sad shooting numbers (39 percent from the field, 26 percent 3-pointers), not taking care of the ball (20.4 turnovers per game) and not scoring a heck of a lot (55.6 points per game). So it figures they’d put the River Hawks on their heels for stretches by using.

“If you look at their record, they should win a lot more games,” UML junior center Ali Kanaan said. “They got some good players that are probably underrated. They’re a good offensive team.”

UML head coach Greg Herenda said it didn’t take long to realize what the River Hawks were in for on Wednesday, saying, “We had the lead the entire night, but they were -- we didn’t scout them live, we scouted them on tape -- they were better (than advertised). Once that game started, I knew that if we didn’t really play hard and well, that team was going to beat somebody. We were just hoping it wasn’t going to be (last night), but that team will win a game and will beat a good team soon.”

- INSIDE PRESENCE(S): The River Hawks weren’t their normally solid shooting selves from outside (5-for-19 3-pointers) and it made the play of Kanaan (15 points, six blocks, four rebounds) and Victor Colon (26 points, eight rebounds) made a bid difference. Freshman guard Marcus Johnson (11 points) is another player who tends to get his scoring done inside, putting the ball on the floor and driving to the basket. UML scored 42 points in the paint and 22 points from the free throw line.

- WALT-ON: Freshman walk-on guard Robbie Walton, a product of Boston Latin and the Dual County League, played some quality minutes of the bench for the River Hawks. In fifteen minutes he managed to impact the game in a myriad of ways as indicated by the box score. He only took one shot (and made it), but he got to the free throw line and made good on three of four chances to finish with five points. Walton also had two rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

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