LOWELL, Mass. – An 11-2 run over the final five minutes of the first half gave UMass-Lowell a 12-point halftime advantage and the River Hawks went on to record a 63-50 win over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Wednesday night at the Costello Gymnasium. It was the conference-opener for both teams.

Junior guard Jasper Grassa (Lynn/Lynn Classical HS) led Bentley with 13 points and six rebounds, and All-Conference guard Akeem Williams (Brockton), also a junior, had the same number for UMass-Lowell, although he needed 19 shots to get that many.

A 7-0 run that included a three-pointer from sophomore forward Jate Cheshul (Galloway, N.J./ Holy Spirit HS) and was capped by a Grassa jumper gave Bentley its final lead of the night, 11-10 with 10:23 left.

UMass-Lowell junior forward Antonio Blivens (Miami, Fla.) connected 30 seconds later to puthis team back in front and begin an 8-0 run that was finished by a three-pointer by freshman guard DJ Mlachnik (Moskego, Wisc.).

Bentley responded with five straight, the last four scored by freshman forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS), and it was a two-point game, 18-16, as the first half clock dipped under seven minutes.

A couple minutes later, Grassa drained a triple to bring the Falcons within three at 24-21, but the rest of the half belonged to the home team. Senior forward Matt Welch (Lowell ) scored six of the 11 and a three from Williams with 49 seconds left capped the run and  the first half scoring, putting the River Hawks up a dozen, 35-23.

Bentley, which shot only 22 percent in the first half, remained cold to start the second with a Grassa three a minute into the half the Falcons' only points of the first seven minutes. That dry spell enabled Lowell to extend the differential to 19, 45-26, and the Falcons never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Grassa, who had three triples among his five baskets, also gave Bentley two assists and two steals. McFarland was the only other Falcon to score in doubles as he finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals. Cheshul was productive in 12 minutes off the bench, with eight points and five boards.

For UMass-Lowell (1-0),Williams was followed in the scoring colum by Blivens and Welch, with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Combined, Lowell's three double figure scorers made only 14 of 48 shots.

UMass-Lowell, which scored 24 points off 18 Falcon turns, finished with a 52-42 rebound advantage and outshot Bentley 35-29 percent.  The Falcons had more success from outside, hitting six of 20 threes as compared to UML's 2 of 21, and were also effective at the line, making 12 of 14.

Bentley, 1-2, is on the road again Saturday, with a 1 pm non-conference game against Goldey-Beacom in Wilmington, Del.