THE BASICS:

RESULT: UMass Lowell 80, Hartford 76
LOCATION: Costello Athletic Center (Lowell, Mass.)
ATTENDANCE: 341
RECORDS:  UMass Lowell (5-9, 1-0 America East), Hartford (5-11, 0-1)
 
THE LEAD:
Senior Taylor Dyson scored a career-high 27 points on 9-for-14 shooting from beyond the arc, but UMass Lowell staged a late rally, led by Matt Harris, to take an 80-76 victory in the America East opener for both teams. Freshman George Blagojevic added 18 in a losing effort for the Hawks.

FIRST HALF:
Hartford came strong out of the gate, with Dyson knocking down a three to start things on the way to an early 9-2 lead. A pair of buckets inside for Blagojevic and a jumper by Pancake Thomas provided the remainder of the offense. But UML came right back as the Hawks went cold, and a 15-3 run put the home squad up by a 17-12 score.

Slowly, the visitors began to chip away at the advantage, with a Jason Dunne three from the left wing cutting the deficit to 21-20 at the 7:33 mark. Just moments later, another three from Dyson tied the score at 23, and after a back-and-forth battle, his six triple of the half knotted the score at 34-all with 2:31 left. But UMass Lowell was able to close the half on a 5-2 run and take a 39-36 lead into the break.  

SECOND HALF:
Hartford turned up the defense to open the second half, opening the stanza on a 13-1 run to garner a 47-40 lead. Blagojevic netted a quartet of baskets down low in the run, going 4-for-4 from the field, while Dyson drilled a triple and a Justin Graham baseline jumper completed the scoring as the Hawks pushed the lead to 49-40.

UML was undaunted, though, and went on a 15-5 run to regain the lead, 55-54. A J.R. Lynch triple stopped the run, and after the teams traded points to 57-57, Jalen Ross netted five straight and Dyson drilled his eighth three of the night to put the Hawks edge at 65-59 with 7:51 remaining. The Hawks would push the lead to 68-61.

But the River Hawks caught fire from downtown, with Harris netting 11 points in a 12-4 run to regain the lead, as his triple with 2:27 to play made it 74-73. After adding a free throw to make it a two-point edge, Dyson buried his final triple of the night, pushing the Hawks back ahead 76-75. But Harris came through once again, hitting a circus shot to put the River Hawks ahead, and the home squad was able to get stops down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• The Hawks started both halves strong, opening the first half on a 9-2 run and the second on a 13-1 rally.

• Dyson's nine threes were the most in a Hawks game since Wes Cole hit a school-record 10 against UMass Lowell on Jan. 20, 2014.
 
• Hartford is now 11-10 in America East openers all-time.
 
• The Hawks outscored the River Hawks off turnovers, 19-10, in the contest.
 
• Jason Dunne scored a career-high five points in the game.
 
• Every player who played at least one minute grabbed a rebound in the contest, while eight different players found their way onto the scoresheet.

UP NEXT:
Hartford has the weekend off and will return to action in one week at Binghamton on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. in the America East battle.