BANGOR, Maine – Six players scored in double digits to lead the University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team to a 107-97 win over Castleton State College, in Friday night's first semifinal game of the North Atlantic Conference Tournament at Husson University's Newman Gym.

The win sends UMaine-Farmington (13-14) into the conference championship game for the first time since 2010, and just the third time since the Beavers became full members of the NAC in 2003-04.

The Beavers will now play Husson University in the NAC championship game on Saturday, March 1, at 2:00 p.m. at Newman Gym. Husson advanced to the title game with a 93-76 win over Lyndon State in Friday's second semifinal. This will be the first meeting between UMaine-Farmington and Husson in a NAC championship game.

Senior center Ben Johnson led the Beavers with 21 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while senior forward Andrew Dickey tallied 19 points. Senior guard Sam Leal finished with 18 points and seniors Garrett Clemmer and Nate Carson each logged 11 points on the night. Carson also dished out six assists, while Johnson had five assists.

Junior Uriah Forest-Bulley came off the bench to scored 16 for Farmington, evenly split between 4-of-5 shooting from the field and an 8-of-9 mark at the free-throw line.

Chad Copeland paced Castleton (19-8) with 24 points on an 11-of-13 effort from the floor, while Carnelius Green tallied 20 points.

An 8-0 Farmington run in the latter part of the second half broke open what had been a tight game, capped by a pair of Leal free throws to give the Beavers an 87-76 lead with 5:33 remaining.

Castleton pulled back to within five on a Logan White 3-pointer – one of his three on the night – followed by a conventional three-point play by Troy Davine. A Dickey jumper and a pair of foul shots by Johnson extended the UMaine-Farmington lead to 91-82 with 4:35 on the clock.

The Spartans again got to within five of the Beavers with 2:02 showing, but Johnson again provided the answer with free throws to give Farmington a 99-92 lead at the 1:45 mark.

Farmington was 6-of-8 at the free-throw line over the final minute to help preserve the win , while holding Castleton to a 1-of-5 mark from the floor over that span.

The Beavers finished the game shooting just 69.8 percent at the foul line, but the Spartans' 27 fouls allowed Farmington to go to the line 43 times where they converted 30 shots. UMaine-Farmington also enjoyed a commanding 48 to 38 advantage on the boards.

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