Withers, Mitchell carry UMass-Lowell past Maine 71-63

LOWELL, Mass. -- Connor Withers scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds as UMass Lowell beat Maine 71-63 on Wednesday night.

Ron Mitchell had 16 points and eight rebounds for UMass Lowell (10-16, 4-7 America East Conference). Allin Blunt added 12 points and Obadiah Noel 11 as the River Hawks outscored Maine 9-3 over the final 2:53.

Christian Lutete, who came in averaging an America East-leading 19.9 points per game, had nine for the River Hawks, hitting 1-for-7 from distance.

Sergio El Darwich had 13 points to lead the Black Bears (7-18, 3-8). Andrew Fleming added 12 points and nine rebounds. El Darwich earned National Mid-Major Player of the Week honors after leading Maine to a 2-0 mark with a 31-point, 9.5-assist average last week. His parents had traveled from Lebanon to see him play last week for the first time in more than five years.

The River Hawks evened the season series against the Black Bears with the win. Maine defeated UMass Lowell 104-98 on Jan. 15. UMass Lowell matches up against Hartford on the road on Saturday. Maine matches up against Albany at home on Sunday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com