Recently in College Sports Category

UMass Lowell senior Jeremy Dehner has cracked the top ten among the school's Division I defensemen in career scoring. With five points this season Dehner now has 63 career points, tying him for eighth on the career list with Scott Drevitch (1985-88). Next up for Dehner is Cleve Kinley (2003-07) with 64 points. Mike Nicholishen, who played for the River Hawks from 1994-98, is the top-scoring Division I defenseman with 99 points. The school's all-time leading scoring defenseman is Paul Lohnes, who amassed 167 points for the Division II ULowell Chiefs from 1978-82.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

UMass Lowell sophomore guard Kyle Caiola was named the Northeast-10 Conference's Player of the Week, while rookie Romeo Diaz earned Freshman of the Week honors on Monday.

Caiola tied a personal-best 26 points in Sunday's season-opener against Mercy, which the River Hawks won 110-72 at home. He had a double-double after dishing 11 assists on the afternoon, as well. Caiola went 10 for 11 from the floor, including a perfect 3 for 3 from behind the arc. He swiped four steals on the day, while committing zero turnovers. Caiola also grabbed three rebounds and went 3 for 4 from the free throw line in the game.

Diaz, making his collegiate debut, started the contest for the River Hawks and also tallied a double-double on the afternoon, with 21 points and 10 boards. He went 9 for 10 from the floor, had a pair of steals and assists.

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.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

With the UMass Lowell men's basketball team set to take on UConn this Sunday, Northeast-10 Conference member Le Moyne went into the Carrier Dome and defeated Syracuse, 82-79, in an exhibition game on Tuesday night.

Reigning NE-10 Player of the Year Laurence Ekperigin scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Christopher Johnson made six 3-pointers and led the Dolphins with 22 points.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The UMass Lowell men's and women's basketball teams, in conjunction with Student Activities & Leadership and the Department of Athletics, will host the Second Annual River Hawk Hoop Fest in Costello Gym on Wednesday, Nov. 4 beginning at 7 p.m.

Fans can enjoy free pizza, t-shirts to the first 100 students and prizes throughout the evening. Special prizes will be awarded for best dressed school spirit costume, throw for dough contest, $10,000 shootout and a free textbook giveaway. Other prizes include cash, restaurant gift cards, Celtics tickets and gear.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The UMass Lowell men's basketball team received a verbal commitment from New Jersey guard Chris Thompson this week.

Thompson, who attends Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, is listed as 6-foot-2 and somewhere around 160 to 170 pounds. According to MaxPreps.com, he averaged 11.3 points per game as a junior playing alongside a several NCAA Division 1 scholarship caliber players.

Life Center also played a highly competitive schedule which featured games against nationally recognized programs such as Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and National Christian Academy (Washington, D.C.) as well as New Jersey powerhouses St. Patrick's, St. Anthony's and St. Benedict's.

Thompson and his family were on campus last week and attended the River Hawks practice at Tsongas Arena last Friday prior to the Celtics open practice session.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Jim Calhoun doesn't have a reputation for sugarcoating his observations.

The UConn men's basketball coach told reporters during the Big East Media Day that freshman big man Alex Oriakhi "has to be" an impact freshman for the Huskies this season.

The video is streamed on the Hartford Courant's website.

Oriakhi, a McDonald's All-American and New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year last year, is a Lowell resident. The 6-foot-9 forward/center graduated from the Tilton School this past spring after helping lead the basketball team to a Prep National title and a 29-2 record.

UConn has to replace center Hasheem Thabeet, the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft, and power forward Jeff Adrien.

Thabeet won back-to-back Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as back-to-back NABC National Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was also the Big East Co-Player of the Year in 2008-09.

Adrien ranked second on the team in both points per game (13.6) and rebounds per game (9.9).

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

It may not be on the calendar, but October 15 is Hoop Day. College basketball teams are allowed to begin full team practices on this date. The UMass Lowell men's basketball team tipped-off the 2009-10 season with a midnight practice at Costello Gymnasium.

The River Hawks come off a 21-8 season in 2008-09, the first season for head coach Greg Herenda.UML opened up the preseason with 13 players suited up. Senior guard Craig Heatherly had limited participation because of an ankle injury.

Two freshman and one graduate student were added to this year's team with Scott Tavares-Taylor and Romeo Diaz forming the incoming class, and former Lowell High School standout Kingsel Onyechi coming aboard as a grad student (he played at New England College as an undersgraduate).

Sophomore forward Kyle Mayers will also be fully eligible to play this season after sitting out as a redshirt last year.

A few players did not return from last year. Forward Victor Colon did not return to school. Junior college transfer Lance Greene ended up heading to UMass Dartmouth, while walk-ons Justin Graham and Shawsheen Tech graduate Joe Gore were not at the first practice and are also not listed on this year's roster.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The UMass Lowell men's basketball team will be without Second Team All-Northeast-10 Conference performer Victor Colon this winter.

Colon, who would have been a senior, decided not to return to school this fall for his senior year. The Chicago native led the River Hawks in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (5.7 rebounds per game) during the regular season.

Though he was very strong, Colon was somewhat undersized for his power forward position at 6-foot-3. He hurt opposing defenses with his shooting range. He ranked fourth in the NE-10 in 3-point shooting percentage (45.7 percent).

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

This winter the UMass Lowell women's basketball team will welcome Stacey Lajoie aboard four year's after she was originally recruited.

Lajoie, a native of Gardner, Mass., has been a standout on the River Hawks softball team for the past four years. That's why she never suited up for UML women's basketball coach Kathy O'Neil.

While taking graduate school courses at UML, Lajoie has decided to use her final year of eligibility to return to the hardwood. She used her four years of softball eligibility, but the NCAA allows athletes five years. She could not play softball for a fifth year, however, she is allowed to play another sport.

Lajoie was a four-time Northeast-10 Conference All-Star in softball, earning a spot on the NE-10 First Team in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The center fielder/catcher was on the Third Team in 2007. The NE-10 coaches selected her as the conference Rookie of the Year in 2006.

She wrapped up her softball career this past spring as the school record holder in career home runs (21), games played (208).

Lajoie is slated to play guard for the women's basketball team.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Change fills the air in the Northeast-10 Conference this off-season. If the pending addition of Adelphi to go with New Haven this past year wasn't enough, new coaches will be roaming the sidelines during women's basketball contests next winter.

Following an incredibly successful run at Franklin Pierce, head women's basketball coach Mark Swasey resigned last week to take over as the head coach of the women's program at California University of Pennsylvania. California-Pennsylvania lost to Franklin Pierce this past year in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

He replaces Heather Kearney, who left after one year to become an assistant at Appalachia State.

Franklin Pierce surpassed the program record for victories in each of the past two seasons, capturing two-straight NCAA Regional Championships and trips to the Division II Elite Eight. This past season the Ravens won a record 29 games en route to capturing the Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament titles for the first time. The Ravesn also made the program's first ever appearance in the Division II title game.

St. Anselm hired DeAnn Craft in May to replace Chris Leazier after the Hawks posted 10-44 record in the past two seasons (4-23 in 2008-09 and 6-21 in 2007-08).

Leazier resigned this March after just two seasons.

Craft, a graduate of the University of Central Florida, coached the University of Texas-Pan American the past six seasons. She leaves as the program's all-time wins leader.

Hard-working assistant coach Chris MacKenzie is leaving UMass Lowell to take the job as head coach of the women's hockey team at Niagara University. Niagara announced MacKenzie's hiring today.
MacKenzie is a Niagara alumnus who played for current UML coach Blaise MacDonald at Niagara. MacDonald brought MacKenzie with him when he took the UML job eight years ago. A tireless worker, MacKenzie performed a multitude of tasks for the River Hawks. In addition to recruiting duties, he also worked on instructional videos and was involved in community endeavors.
MacDonald will begin searching immediately for MacKenzie's replacement. Former NHL star Shawn McEachern remains on MacDonald's staff.