LOWELL, MA (Jan. 8, 2008) – Sophomore G Darren Duncan (Briarwood, NY) scored 35 points and dished out six assists to lead Merrimack College over UMass Lowell, 102-87, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

The loss was UML’s fourth straight as the River Hawks slipped to 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the NE-10 entering Saturday’s home game against Pace (4:00). The Warriors improved to 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the Conference.

Sophomore G Kevin Carr (Lancaster, MA) led UML with a career-high 28 points as he 10 of 13 field goal attempts, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range. Sophomore F Victor Colon (Chicago, IL) added 17 points and seven rebounds, hitting 6 of 10 field goals, and senior G Dashon Harper (Columbus, OH) chipped in 13 points (3-5 from 3-point range) and four assists.

Duncan shot 9 for 12 from the field, 5 for 8 from long range and 12 for 13 from the free throw line in 28 minutes. Senior F Gerry Corcoran (Norwell, MA) came off the bench to score 18 points, all from 3-point range where he shot 6 for 8.

Senior G Micky Burtnyk (Phoenix, AZ) added 10 points and five assists while freshman F Darin Mency (Hagerstown, MD) also scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Turnovers plagued the River Hawks as they committed a season-high 27, including 15 in the first half, opposed to 16 by the Warriors (four in the first half).

Both teams shot well from the field – Merrimack .542 (32-59) and UML .544 (31-57) – and both shot identical from long range, hitting 16 of 26 attempts (.615).

Merrimack, however, outscored UML at the free throw line 22-9 and enjoyed advantages on the fast break (9-0) and scoring off turnovers (33-26).

The Warriors led 52-43 with 17:28 left to play and put the game out of reach with a 14-5 spurt to establish a 66-48 cushion with 14:32 left to play. Duncan had nine points in the run while Mency added five.

UML trimmed the lead to 13 points (76-63) with 10:08 left to play, but Merrimack reeled off 13 straight points to post an 89-66 lead with 4:39 left to play. Corcoran led the run with six points while Duncan added a four-point play.

Merrimack led at the break, 48-36.