NORTH ANDOVER, MA (Mar. 1, 2008) – Senior F Mike Gore (Wilmington, MA) scored a career-high 24 points as No. 11 UMass Lowell defeated No. 6 Merrimack, 70-69, Saturday afternoon in the Northeast-10 Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament first round at the Volpe Center.

With the victory, UML improved to 12-16 overall and meets No. 3 Assumption Monday night (7:00) in the Tournament quarterfinal round at the Andrew Laska Gymnasium.

Merrimack slipped to 17-11 and awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. NCAA Tournament bids will be announced Sunday, Mar. 9 on www.ncaasports.com.

The victory was UML’s first in the NE-10 Tournament since 2004, when it captured its second straight title. Ironically, it was Merrimack which knocked off the 18-9 River Hawks in the 2005 Tournament first round, thus extinguishing their NCAA Tournament hopes.

In 2006, UML bypassed the first round before falling to Bryant 63-61 in the quarterfinal. Last year, UML fell short of an NE-10 Tournament bid.

Gore’s output marked the third time in six games he eclipsed his career-high as he converted 10 of 16 field goal attempts and grabbed six rebounds. Senior G Jamael Lynch (Brooklyn, NY) added 15 points, hitting 6 of 10 field goals.

Sophomore G Craig Heatherly (Mishawaka, IN) grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, including eight offensive, seven of which in the first half. Senior G Dashon Harper (Columbus, OH) chipped in nine points and five assists while sophomore F Victor Colon (Chicago, IL) came off the bench to add nine points.

Freshman G Darin Mency led the Warriors with 20 points, including 14 in the second half, while senior G Micky Burtnyk added 19 points. Sophomore G Darren Duncan chipped in 13 points and dished out nine assists.

UML withstood .515 shooting in the second half by Merrimack and a late 18-2 run which saw the River Hawks’ 64-51 lead turned into a 69-66 deficit with 32 seconds left to play. Mency led the run with two treys and a layup while Burtnyk added six points.

Gore then meshed a short jumper to get UML within one (69-68), and following a Merrimack missed free throw, sophomore G Kevin Carr (Lancaster, OH) calmly drained a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to play.

On Merrimack’s next possession, Lynch batted away the ball from behind to sophomore C Ali Kanaan (Montreal, QUE), who dished it back to Lynch, who was immediately fouled with 2.9 seconds left.

Lynch’s free throw back-rimmed and trickled out of bounds, leaving 1/10th of a second remaining. The Warriors’ turned over the inbound enabling UML to seal the win.

UML led at the break 35-26.