White leads UMass Lowell over Boston College 68-66

BOSTON (AP) Isaac White beamed.

For most of the afternoon, there was little reason for the UMass Lowell freshman or his teammates to smile. Playing their third road game in four days, against an Atlantic Coast Conference team not far from home in Boston College, the River Hawks found themselves down big more than once Sunday before pulling out a 68-66 win.

The Eagles (3-5), even without leading scorer Eli Carter (ankle injury) and leading rebounder Dennis Clifford (food poisoning), led by 10 three times.

So why was White smiling as he ran down court late in the second half?

''I couldn't believe that we went up,'' White said. ''I was just happy to take the lead there.''

The 6-foot, 165-pounder had just nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the second half on as many attempts to push UMass Lowell (4-4) ahead 64-60. And when BC's three-quarters-court heave at the buzzer went awry, White and the River Hawks had a win and the right to smile all the way back to Lowell.

Things ended much better than they began for White, who was just 1-of-4 shooting for three points in 17 first-half minutes.

''The first half, my teammates found me for open shots and I just didn't hit 'em,'' he said. ''And then in the second half, Jahad (Thomas) told me he was gonna get me the ball and that just gave me a little boost of confidence.''

White finished with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 5 for 7 on 3s, leading all scorers. Jerome Robinson, playing through food poisoning, had 16 to lead BC.

Coach Pat Duquette called it the team's biggest win since the River Hawks came to Division I three years ago.

''The game wasn't necessarily going our way the whole time, couldn't really get in sync,'' he said. ''But we kept close enough and kept battling so that when it did turn, we put ourselves in position and gave ourselves a chance.

''Isaac White was tremendous. He had one of those games, one of those second halves. For a freshman to come in and do that is pretty remarkable.''

BC coach Jim Christian said it was just one of those days for the Eagles.

''I got a call from two guys at 6:30 in the morning that they had food poisoning,'' he said. ''Eli Carter got hurt in the walkthrough today. All that being said, we had the game in hand and we just didn't make plays.''

TIP-INS

Boston College: Entering Sunday's game, the Eagles were 3-0 when they outrebounded their opponents and 0-4 when they got outrebounded. That trend ended, as the hosts finished with 44 rebounds to the visitors' 35 in the loss.

UMass Lowell: Sunday's game was the third road contest in four days for the River Hawks. They went 1-2, with Sunday's win following losses at LIU Brooklyn and NJIT.

''We know we've gotta outwork every opponent,'' guard Jahad Thomas said. ''We're undersized, we're not the most athletic. We can't afford to be tired. We just keep pushing and pushing.''

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Combined, the two teams listed just seven upperclassmen on their rosters (one graduate student, four seniors and two juniors), compared to 21 underclassmen (three sophomores and 18 freshmen - redshirt and true). . Freshman Johncarlos Reyes, making his first career start for BC, posted a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. . White set a new career high with 20 points, topping his previous high of 18, set against Cornell.

UP NEXT

Boston College visits Providence on Wednesday.

UMass-Lowell hosts Boston University on Thursday.