Smith and Leissner Lead Charge over UMass Lowell, 80-71

Wednesday, January 25

Durham, N.H.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

14-7, 5-2AE

UMass Lowell

8-14, 3-5AE

UML

New Hampshire

Photo by: Paige O'Donnell

1/25/2017 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Presser

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) and junior Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) each scored 24 points in the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team (14-7, 5-2 AE) win over UMass Lowell (8-14, 3-5 AE), 80-71, Wednesday night at Lundholm Gym.

NEXT HOME GAME
The Wildcats hit the road for two contests before returning home on Monday, Feb. 6 (7 PM) to host Albany for the You Can Play game on ESPN3.

HIGHLIGHTS
Leissner went 12 of 12 from the free-throw line in 40 minutes of action.
Smith shot 8 of 14 from the field and recorded three steals.
Senior Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) scored 17 points with three 3-pointers and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.
Junior Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) finished with nine points and 12 rebounds in a 4 of 5 shooting night.
The Wildcats shot 54.5 percent from the field, the third straight game with 50+ percent shooting.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The River Hawks led for the first six minutes, 9-7, before UNH went on a 9-0 run to lead 16-9 with 13:46 to play in the half. Leissner finished with four points in the run. The Wildcats battled the entire half, led by Leissner's 16 points. UNH held a four-point cushion for most of the first frame until Jahad Thomas of UMass Lowell buried a layup in the paint at 3:08 to reduce the deficit to two points. The resilient Wildcats responded with two free throws from Dion and a strong layup from Leissner to bump the lead back up to six, 35-29. New Hampshire went into the break with a 37-34 lead. Junior Keon Burns (Beaverton, Oregon) finished the first half with three points, four rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench. Dion had seven points.

The Wildcats came out firing in the second half, pushing their lead to eight, 50-42, with 15:28 to play. The first two points in the half were from Camara who hammered home a dunk in traffic with 17:28 to go to cap off the scoring. New Hampshire's Dion drilled a 3-pointer at the 10:48 mark to push the Wildcat lead to 10, and another Dion jumper at 2:36 earned the largest lead of the game, 14 points (75-61). UNH finished with 43 second-half points.

-POSTGAME NOTES-
UNH STARTERS (SEASON/CAREER STARTS)
Sr. G Jaleen Smith (21/93)
Sr. G Daniel Dion (21/54)
Jr. G Jordan Reed (18/18)
Jr. F Tanner Leissner (21/75)
Jr. F Iba Camara (16/54)

GROUP'S RECORD: 8-6

SERIES INFO
The Wildcats lead the all-time series 6-1 and have defeated UMass Lowell in six straight games.

ATTENDANCE: 826

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Jaleen Smith: 24 points / 2 rebounds / 3 steals / 8 of 14 shooting / 6-6 FTs
Tanner Leissner: 24 points / 4 rebounds / 12-12 FTs / 6 of 10 shooting
Daniel Dion: 17 points / 3 assists / 6-7 FTs / 3 of 6 3s

Jahad Thomas: 24 points / 8 rebounds / 5 assists
Rinardo Perry: 14 points / 6 of 12 shooting
Ryan Jone: 10 points / 3 rebounds / 1 assist