UNH Defeats UMass Lowell, 66-61, to Win Fourth Straight

Thursday, January 29

Durham, N.H.

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

8-12,4-3America East

UMass Lowell

8-14,3-4America East

UMass Lowell

New Hampshire

Photo by: Katie Sheridan

1/29/2026 9:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Junior guard Jack Graham (Smithfield, R.I.) scored 16 points to lead the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team to its fourth consecutive win on Thursday night in Lundholm Gym, where the Wildcats sent UMass Lowell home with a 66-61 loss.

Graham finished with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Junior forward Belal El Shakery (Alexandria, Egypt) boasted a near double-double by securing 11 rebounds and scoring nine points. Four Wildcats netted eight points – Comeh Emuobor (Raleigh, N.C.), R.J. Kennedy (Fayatteville, Ga.), Davide Poser (Veneto, Italy), and John Squire (Sausalito, Calif.)

UMass Lowell's leading scorers were Angel Montas Jr. (18 points) and Xavier Spencer (15).

UNH improves to 8-12 overall, 4-3 in America East and 7-2 at home while UMass Lowell falls to 8-14, 3-4.

UP NEXT

UNH travels to Rhode Island to match up against the Bryant Bulldogs on Saturday, Jan. 31 to begin a two-game road trip.
The Wildcats' next home game is Thursday, Feb. 12 (6pm) vs. NJIT.
CLICK HERE to buy tickets online – and upgrade to the Lundholm Loft for elevated drinks and eats in elevated seats – at unhwildcats.com/tickets or call (603) 862-4000.

FIRST HALF

El Shakery and Poser traded layups to give the 'Cats the early 4-2 lead at 16:51.
Giannos Xanthopoulos (Zografou, Greece) bullied his way to the basket for his first points of the night to tie the score 6-6 at 15:47.
Poser picked a River Hawks player's pocket and converted the steal into a 3-pointer – the Wildcats first of the game – to give UNH an 18-16 lead at 9:04.
The 'Cats and River Hawks battled through 13 lead changes before UNH went on a 17-7 run in the last 4:45 of the half to build a 40-30 lead.
Back-to-back dunks by El Shakery and Graham with 38 and 15 seconds remaining, respectively, closed the first half out for UNH.
The Wildcats entered the half with a 10-point advantage by scoring the last seven points.

SECOND HALF

Two free throws from Graham gave the 'Cats their first points of the half and a 42-32 advantage at 17:23.
The River Hawks went on an 8-2 run coming out of halftime which El Shakery halted with a layup assisted by Emuobor to put UNH in front 44-38 at 15:02.
Emuobor finished through contact at the rim, drawing the foul and completing the three-point play to extend the margin to 47-39 at 14:12.
Kennedy connected with Emuobor for the alley-oop to bring Lundholm Gym fans to their feet and the 'Cats back up by six, 49-43, at 12:35.
After a made 3-pointer from UML's Montas, Graham answered with his own make from downtown to put it back to a two-possession game, 52-48, at 10:46.
Squire slammed a dunk down for two points to give the 'Cats their lead back, 54-52, at 9:26.
Graham accelerated to the rim for a layup that expanded their lead to 56-52 at 8:32.
Kennedy responded to UMass Lowell's three-point play at 7:43 with a make from behind the 3-point line, assisted by Poser, at 7:00 to push the margin to 60-55.
The visitors closed within one point, 62-61, at 2:42.
UNH went 4-for-4 at the foul line in the final 11 seconds to secure the win.
Graham gave the Wildcats a 64-61 lead with 11 seconds left and, following a UML mis with five seconds to play, Bike made two more free throws with three seconds on the clock.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Poser led all players with a career-high four steals.
Kennedy recorded a career-high three steals. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers.
El Shakery has recorded 10+rebounds six times this season.
UNH's four-game winning streak is the team's longest since February 2020.

GAME NOTEBOOK

The Wildcats spent 30:51 (or 77.1% of the game) with the lead. UML held the lead for 4:49.
New Hampshire built a 40-30 halftime lead on the strength of a .515 field goal percentage (17 of 33).
UNH's bench outscored UMass Lowell's, 18-13.