ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose shot a season-best 52.8 percent (28-for-53) from the floor, but UMass Lowell was more than up to the task behind 54.7 percent (29-for-53) shooting en route to an 81-70 victory against the Golden Knights tonight at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium. The River Hawks (11-3/6-3 NE-10) now own the Northeast-10 Conference's longest current win streak with seven consecutive victories.

Junior guard Jermaine Clark led the Golden Knights (5-9/3-6 NE-10) in scoring for the sixth time this year with 18 points, while senior forward Josh Pelletier had a career-high 15 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Freshman guard Shea Bromirski finished with 13 points, while rookie forward Brian Hanuschak had a season-high 10 points and five boards in 23 minutes off the bench.

Saint Rose rallied from a 35-34 halftime deficit by scoring eight unanswered points at the outset of the second period. The spurt yielded the Golden Knights their biggest lead of the evening, 42-35, with 18:16 to go following back-to-back Bromirski 3-pointers and a Pelletier jumper. However, UMass Lowell countered with 10 straight points throughout the next minute. Junior forward Victor Colon ignited the spurt with a four-point play, and then followed a 3-pointer from junior guard Kevin Carr with another trey to make it 45-42 River Hawks.

UMass Lowell never trailed again, although Saint Rose pulled to within a bucket, 56-54, with 10:01 to play following a Hanuschak free throw. The Golden Knights then got to within three, 65-62, at the 5:41 mark after junior guard Brian Ledbetter canned a pair of free throws.

The River Hawks, who were right on their league-leading average of 9.5, 3-pointers per-game with nine tonight, turned to their strength on both occasions to resume control. Carr dialed from long distance to put them back up 59-54 and a bit less than five minutes later freshman guard Kyle Caiola drained another to make it a 68-62 ballgame. UMass Lowell then put the finishes touches on the win by holding the Golden Knights without a field goal throughout the final 2:42.

Caiola led five UMass Lowell players in double-figures with 23 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor. Colon finished with a team-high 18 points and six rebounds. Carr contributed 15 points in 35 minutes of reserve duty, while junior forward Ali Kanaan and junior guard Craig Heatherly wound up with 14 and 10 respectively.

Both teams return to action with NE-10 games on Saturday. Saint Rose will play the final leg of its current four-game, eight day stretch with a 3:30 pm league contest at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. Meanwhile, UMass Lowell has a 3:30 pm date at Pace University in Pleasantville, NY.

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