Men’s Basketball Drops Saint Joseph’s in A-10 First Round

GAME INFORMATION
Atlantic 10 Championship First Round
Massachusetts 70, Saint Joseph's 63
Records: Massachusetts (15-17) • Saint Joseph's (11-20)
Location: PPG PAINTS Arena; Pittsburgh, Pa.

HIGHLIGHTS

UMass men's basketball improved to 37-35 in the Atlantic 10 Championship overall and 4-1 against Saint Joseph's with the win. It was the team's 12th all-time victory in the first round and went as the first appearance for the team as the No. 12 seed.
Zach Lewis reached 1,000 career points with a free throw in the final minute of the game. He needed 10 points entering the night and ended with 14. Lewis recorded 717 of his points while a member of the Canisius basketball program from 2013-15 and has 287 in 2016-17, his first year active with the Minutemen.
Massachusetts finished with 12 blocks in the game, tied for a season-high in the category and also tied for the most recorded during a UMass Atlantic 10 Championship game. Tyrn Flowers led all Minutemen with a career-high-tying three while Chris Baldwin, Donte Clark and Malik Hines each added two.
Donte Clark moved into 23rd place all-time at UMass for points scored. He ended the day with 1,231 for his career, which moved him ahead of Ray Ellerbrook (1,224) and Donta Bright (1,229). Next on the list is Al Skinner with 1,235.
DeJon Jarreau exited the game with a head injury at the 10:44 mark of the first half. He returned to the bench late in the half after he was cleared for play by the on-site medical team. He checked back in during the second half with 12:33 to go and finished with a team-high four assists.
C.J. Anderson shot 6-of-7 overall for a team-high 17 points. He also dished three assists during 35 minutes on the court. It marked his second-most career points.
Luwane Pipkins finished with 13 points, including 11 scored in the second half. He shot 4-of-8 overall, 3-for-6 on 3-pointers and 2-for-2 at the foul line.
The win went as the third for the Minutemen over the Hawks this season. The last time Massachusetts swept a three-game single-season series with an A-10 opponent was 2014 over Rhode Island with a win on the road, 73-68 on Feb. 9 followed by a 70-67 home victory on Feb 26. The Minutemen then downed Rhody, 65-61 in the Atlantic 10 Championship. Prior to that, the Minutemen last had three-game sweeps during the 1995-96 season.

FIRST HALF
A 12-point run, led by 3-pointers from Donte Clark and Zach Lewis, put the Minutemen in front 23-15 with six minute, seven seconds to play. C.J. Anderson added a bucket at the rim while Lewis and Luwane Pipkins each had a pair of free throws during the streak.

Five straight points by Saint Joseph's moved the Hawks within 27-24 with 2:25 to go, but the Minutemen rattled off the last four points of the half on a Clark layup and two Lewis foul shots with 3.4 seconds to go for a 31-24 halftime advantage.

SECOND HALF
Massachusetts hit nine of its first 13 shots and moved in front by as much as 19 points (58-39; 7:49), led by 11 points from Pipkins. However, Saint Joseph's countered with a 14-0 run that cut the advantage to 58-53 with 4:12 to go.

Clark snapped the streak with a foul shot, the first of 10 consecutive UMass points scored via the charity stripe. Massachusetts finished 75.0 percent on free throws (18-of-24) and kept the lead at three points or more until Anderson capped scoring with an emphatic dunk with six seconds to play.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Derek Kellogg
Opening Statement:
"I'm pretty happy with our team today having to play a tough Saint Joe's team for the third time, come away with a victory that was right down to the end. I thought we played a great stretch in the second half and then they made some great plays to get back in the game. So, a well-fought college basketball game. I love the environment out there. I thought it was a fantastic arena with a great crowd, support for our game and our team and we're excited to go after St. Bonaventure again tomorrow."

Redshirt Junior Guard Zach Lewis
On if the team should have kept attacking after earning a 19-point lead:
"Definitely. That's the toughest part of a game when you have a big lead and we're looking at the same, so we're waiting for the time to go down but be aggressive and score. That's just a tough part for any team really."

On how you prepare for playing again tomorrow
"It's survive and advance. It's all-or-nothing. That's why we're here. We've been preparing for it and we're ready for this moment, so now we're just trying to win and keep it going."

UP NEXT
The Minutemen continue into the Atlantic 10 Championship Second Round, where they will face No. 5 St. Bonaventure at 2:30 p.m. on Thurs., March 9. The game will be broadcast live by NBC Sports Network.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the team throughout the season on Twitter and Instagram (@UMassBasketball).

HIGHLIGHTS

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Scoreboard