Box Score NEW LONDON, N.H. -- The University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team ran its record to 4-0 in the North Atlantic Conference as the Beavers rallied from a 17-point deficit to stun Colby-Sawyer College 77-74 in overtime this afternoon.
The Beavers (4-4 overall) -- the lone unbeaten in the NAC -- are off for the holiday break. UMF is scheduled to return to action on Jan. 6 at home against Johnson State College at 5:30 p.m. The Chargers slipped to 5-5 (3-1).
UMF's Joe McCloskey (Howland, Maine) poured in a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game best seven boards all off the bench to help lift the Beavers to the road win. Pet Sumner (Cramerton, N.C.) added 16 points on 5-9 shooting. Kevin Leary (Manchester, Maine) was the third Beaver to reach double-figures with 13 points.
Freshman Koang Thok (Portland, Maine) and senior Will Bardaglio (Wayne, Maine) scored 16 points each to pace the Chargers. Bardaglio moved into 12th on Colby-Sawyer's career scoring list with 1179 points. James Tobin (Brookline, N.H.) added 14 points, while freshman Mike Dias (Carver, Mass.) contributed 12 points.
UMF held an early two point advantage in the first half, but Colby-Sawyer would lead for the final 18 minutes by as much as 10 with two minutes left. Bardaglio had 13 points to lead Colby-Sawyer, while McCloskey had 12 for the Beavers. The Chargers took advantage of 14 first half UMF turnovers resulting in 11 points.
Colby-Sawyer was comfortably ahead for much of the second half and led by as much as 17. The Beavers trailed by 15 with 8:23 left, but chipped away thanks to hot shooting from beyond the arc. The UMF defense buckled down as well and held Colby-Sawyer to one field goal in the final eight minutes of regulation. The Beavers completed the comeback with three minutes to go, tying the game 59-59. After a three pointer by Leary gave the visitors their second lead of the game at 64-62, James Tobin drove to the basket and was fouled. He calmly made both free throws to tie the game and both teams each missed a shot in the final seconds to force overtime.
The overtime session was back and forth throughout as each team held multiple leads. After a Mike Dias gave Colby-Sawyer a 74-73 lead with 1:25 to play
Tim Gingras (Winthrop, Maine) and McCloskey iced the game by each making a pair of free throws for the 77-74 victory.
UMF went 14-15 from the free throw line and held a 33-12 edge in bench scoring.
