JOHNSON, Vt. – Junior Pet Sumner netted 23 points to lead the University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team to a 74-63 North Atlantic Conference win over Johnson State College, Saturday afternoon at Carter Gymnasium.

The University of Maine at Farmington evened its conference record at 7-7 with the win, and improved to 9-12 overall. Johnson State fell to 2-12 overall, 5-16 in the North Atlantic Conference.

Sumner was 7-of-14 from the field, including four 3-pointers, on his way to his third 20-point effort of the season. He was also 5-of-5 at the free-throw line.

Senior Ben Johnson finished with 15 points and four rebounds for the Beavers, while senior Garrett Clemmer tallied 12 points. Seniors Nate Carson and Andrew Dickey each posted 12 points

The Badgers were paced by senior captain Bryan Hickey with a game-high 23 points, and completed a double-double with his 11 rebounds.  

The Beavers hit five threes in the game's first 4:36 seconds and jumped out to an early 15-5 lead. After two Sumner free throws and a layup by Dickey, the Beavers had a 14-point edge. 

A balanced attack over the next seven minutes of game play would keep the Beavers in the lead. Johnson State went on a mini run of their own after a Lester Alexander 3-point bucket and a layup by Hickey, which cut the lead to eight at 29-21 with 7:44 remaining in the half. At the half the visiting Beavers led Johnson State, 41-31.

Coming out of the locker room for the second half, UMaine-Farmington amped up its zone defense and the Badgers mustered only three points in the half's first eight minutes. With 12 minutes remaining in the contest, the Beavers had their second largest lead of the night at 22 points, 56-34.

After a Sumner 3-point field goal with nine minutes remaining, Farmington led the home squad, 63-39, for its largest lead of the afternoon.

Johnson State rallied with a late 12-2 run capped by a Ron Adrian 3-pointer with 6:03 left in the contest, cutting the UMaine-Farmington lead to 14 points. Another Adrian trey with 40 seconds left in the contest briefly pulled the Badgers to within nine points of the Beavers, 68-59, but a pair of late foul shots by Carson and a layup by reserve Ryan Ripley in the game's waning seconds preserved Farmington's comfortable lead. 

UMaine-Farmington will close out the 2013-14 regular season with three of its final four games at home, starting with a home clash with Green Mountain College on Friday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Dearborn Gym.

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