JERSEY CITY, NJ

The UMPI Men's Basketball team went into their matchup in the Eastern College Athletic Conference missing a few guys. Doug McCalla, Dwaine Williams, Saquan Carswell, and Charlie Mellick all were unable to suit up for the Owls for their Quarterfinal game in Jersey City as they qualified for the D-III equivalent to the NIT.

The Owls drew Salisbury University out of the Coast-to-Coast Conference, who earned the number two seed from the committee. Despite their short handedness, the seventh seeded Owls more than held their own and proved to everyone what this team is really about.

How it Happened:
The Owls started out to an early lead thanks to some early sharp shooting, going up 7-4. Salisbury responded with a run to take control for the first time, leading 17-11. UMPI didn't let the game slip away early as may have been expected with guys who had played limited minutes throughout the year having to step up. The motto of "next-man-up" proved to be the Owls mantra on this day. 

UMPI clawed their way, staying in it the entirety of the first half. At the break, Salisbury led 37-34. The Owls shot 46% as a team in the frame and only fell behind by two in the rebound margin despite the absence of a lot of their usual height.

In the second half, it was more of how the first half went. The Sea Gulls stayed narrowly ahead, as the Owls could never fully tie it, but also never let it slip away. Midway through the half, Salisbury went on their biggest run of the day, going up by double digits with a 57-46 lead. Despite this run, the Sea Gulls went cold, and UMPI slowly crept back in. It turned into a game of runs as the Owls brought it back to 59-56 with 8:23 remaining. This was the closest they'd been since halftime, but unfortunately was the last sense of momentum they would have.

The Sea Gulls didn't exactly take off after that but did enough to obtain control again. By 4:19 to go, they'd taken a 68-58 lead as the Owls just couldn't get one to drop. 

Despite their unbelievable effort in the face of immense adversity, the Owls dream season finally came to a conclusion. Salisbury eventually closed out the win, 77-63.

Top Performers:
The Owls were led by the duo of Akhe McMichael and Gilbert Jean Mendez who had 18 points each. Jean Mendez once again was the consistent presence on the court, playing 38 minutes and grabbing eight rebounds to lead the glass for UMPI again. He had two of the Owls three three-pointers and went 5-11 overall from the field and a solid 6-8 from the line. McMichael still managed a way to get 18 points despite going 0-3 beyond the arc as he shot 8-14 from the field and created a lot of his own opportunities. 

Myles Jones had 11 points including a three-pointer and played 34 solid minutes. Aleix Moreno joined the troops with a double figure performance as well, turning in 10 points and five rebounds. James Yamashita and Brice Lawrence—mainstays off the bench for the whole season gave 22 solid minutes each while Logan Migliori and Joelle Hodge each played a big role having appeared in less than half of the Owls' games throughout the season. Javier Osowski-Freire also got in the rotation providing some much-needed depth for the short-handed squad.


A Special Year in the Books:
UMPI finishes their best season in history at 20-7. It was a huge accomplishment just to be selected to compete in the ECAC tournament and was especially big for this special team considering how their season ended in the NAC playoffs. The Owls had the deck stacked against them from the start and fought admirably to the end.

Going into next year, UMPI will return a solid corps, but graduate some very key pieces to this year's roster. Gilbert Jean Mendez finishes his career as one of the best to ever put on an Owls uniform. He finishes at 1,416 points—5th in UMPI Men's Basketball History. Myles Jones graduates as one of the best defenders UMPI has ever seen and provided outstanding leadership throughout his time. Brice Lawrence, an unflappable spark of energy off the bench in all four of his years at UMPI played his final game as well on Saturday. And finally, Logan Migliori, a fantastic locker room leader and energy for the Owls who poured his heart and soul into the program these last two years after transferring.

The UMPI community thanks these seniors for their dedication to this program and their unprecedented success on the floor, but also with how well they've represented this school.