Saint Michael's junior Sebastian Brandstetter slams home a putback (pic by Shane Bufano).

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell split a basketball doubleheader in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday at the Ross Sports Center. In the opener, the Saint Michael's women rallied from an 11-point deficit to earn a 60-59 victory, and in the nightcap, the Saint Michael's men dropped their season opener to the River Hawks, 67-52. In the women's contest, senior Michelle Otey (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) buried a turn-around jumper with 4.5 seconds to go, giving Saint Michael's the thrilling season-opening win. Otey finished with 19 points for the Purple Knights, while junior Logan Pintka (Schenectady, N.Y./Colonie Central) led the way with a career-high 28 points and a game-best 11 rebounds.

For UMass Lowell (0-1, 0-1), senior Rahshala Valentine (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied a team-best 19 points, making 8-of-14 shots from the field. Freshman Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) added 14 points off the bench, while senior Jen Valente (Prospect, Conn.) chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.

UMass Lowell held a 28-25 lead after a sloppy first half. The two teams combined for 25 turnovers in the period, while Saint Michael's shot just 22 percent (7-for-32) in the opening 20 minutes, compared to 32 percent (12-for-37) for the River Hawks. UMass Lowell used a 18-4 midway through the period to open up a game-high 11-point lead, 24-13, and the visitors held a 30-21 rebounding edge at intermission.

Pintka took charge early in the second half, as she scored 13 straight points for the Purple Knights over a seven-minute span, helping the hosts take their biggest lead of the game, 47-37, with 8:51 left in regulation. Saint Michael's still led by eight, 54-46, with 5:28 to go, but the River Hawks used a 13-4 run, sealed by two free throws by Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) with 31 seconds left, to pull back in front, 59-58. That set the stage for Otey's heroics following a timeout, as her jumper came off of an assist from junior Marilyn Ferreira (New London, N.H./Kearsarge Regional), and a desperation 3-pointer by Simmons at the buzzer fell short.

In the men's game, UMass Lowell (2-0, 1-0 NE-10) used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to snap a 41-all tie and earn the win. Sophomore Kyle Caiola (Parma, Ohio) led the visitors with 19 points and four assists, while freshman Scotty Tavares-Taylor (Boston, Mass.) added 12 points off the bench. Senior Kingsley Onyechi (Lowell, Mass.) recorded 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the winners, while classmate Kevin Carr (Lancaster, Ohio) netted 10 points. UMass Lowell buried 10-of-28 3-pointers, and committed just nine turnovers, to earn the victory.

For the Purple Knights, freshman Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) was the lone player to score in double figures, as he tallied a game-best 23 points in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Tyler Schilling (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka) added nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds (nine offensive), while junior Nate Birr (Burnsville, Minn./Saint Thomas Academy) notched eight points and 10 boards. The Purple Knights outrebounded UMass Lowell 44-39, but Saint Michael's shot just 29 percent from the field, including 5-of-23 from beyond the arc, in suffering the loss.

Saint Michael's took its final lead of the game at 23-21 with 3:42 left in the first half on a Warech jumper. The River Hawks scored nine of the period's final 12 points to lead 29-26 at intermission. The Purple Knights pulled even three times in the second half, the final time at 41-all with 10:25 to go on a pair of Schilling free throws, but the hosts went scoreless in the next four minutes, missing three shots and committing a pair of turnovers during the dry spell, while UMass Lowell buried three 3-pointers during the game-changing to pull away.

The Saint Michael's men return to action on Friday, as the Purple Knights host Chestnut Hill College at 7 p.m. in the DoubleTree Doc Jacobs Classic. The Saint Michael's women, meanwhile, visit non-conference rival Queens (N.Y.) College on Saturday at 1 p.m. UMass Lowell hosts Caldwell College on Saturday, with the women at 3 p.m. and the men at 5 p.m.

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