Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

For the first couple weeks of preseason, Romeo Diaz's performance didn't quite match the reputation he'd built up at Methuen High School. It begged the question: Wherefore art though Romeo?

Apparently, he was right there all along. He scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds in his first game in a UMass Lowell uniform.

"I didn't think it was going to be like this," Diaz said of his expectations for his first college game. "But it was just the flow of the game. Everyone was just working hard, and the game just came to me. I didn't do nothing special."

Well, the freshman made the most of his playing time as he replaced Max Kerman in the starting lineup for the River Hawks season opener. Kerman must sit out the first three games for disciplinary reasons.

"It's an opportunity," Diaz said. "He (coach Greg Herenda) said because Max is out (and) Ali is out its an opportunity for anyone to step up. I felt like it was my chance to step up."

Diaz didn't find out he'd be in the starting lineup until during the morning shoot around. He'd shown enough progress, particularly in the last three days to get the nod from Herenda.

"I'm not surprised that he played well," Herenda said. "The numbers that he got were fantastic. I hope we get them all the time. I'm not sure we're going to get 9-for-10 and 21 and 10, but he's got a chance to very good. He's a local young man that really plays hard, listens, and he deserves what he gets."

Diaz explained his recent surge as a matter of comfort, saying, "The first couple weeks of practice I hadn't been playing good. I just had to get comfortable. I started feeling comfortable in the past week and a half. I'm just letting my game come to me."

Defense still a work in progress: The River Hawks defense made not just strides but leaps and bounds from the first half to the second against Mercy.

Mavericks guard Hassan Powell repeatedly broke down defenders and was able to hit pull-up jump shots or get fouled and land on the free throw line (6-of-8). He scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half.

Mercy, a team which didn't shoot above 30 percent in two preseason games against Division 1 schools, shot 54 percent from the field in the first half. UML held opponents to 40.6 percent last season.

"I think for the opening game, the only thing I wasn't happy with was how they scored in the first half on individual one-on-one moves," UML head coach Greg Herenda said. "They beat us off the dribble and they made tough shots. But you have to give credit to Mercy. Mercy came in here and they were a much better team than they were last year."

The Mavericks were held to 32 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

Twin Towers look will wait: The River Hawks will have to wait to unveil their frontcourt combination of 6-foot-9 Ali Kanaan and 6-foot-7 Kingsley Onyechi. Kanaan sat out the opener after feeling a tweak in his shoulder during the week.

The senior center is expected to participate in practice soon, and he may be available for the Northeast-10 Conference opener against St. Michael's on Wednesday.