WATERVILLE, Maine - University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball (0-2) dropped a hard fought contest 69-67 to the University of New England (1-2) on day two of the Charlie Ryan Classic on Saturday (Nov. 19) at Thomas College's Larry Mahaney Gymnasium.

UMF held a 17 point advantage (63-46) with 6:11 remaining only to have UNE storm back and take the lead 66-65 with 0:40 left.  After two missed free throws by UNE, the Beavers called time-out with 0:17 remaining to set up a shot.  UMF worked the ball around and Jimmie Chaisson (Sanford, Maine/Sanford) hit an open jumper giving the Beavers the lead.  UNE got the ball inbounded immediately to Drew Coveney who pushed the ball up the court and hit the 25 footer at the buzzer for the win.

For UMF, Issac Witham (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the second half leading to the double-digit lead.  Witham shot a sizzling 6-11 from behind the arc.  Bill Ruby (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) had a solid game with 10 points and 8 boards.

For the Nor'easters, Coveney scored 19 points - including five triples - and pulled down six rebounds.  CJ Autry chipped in with 11 points.

An 11-0 spurt in less than two minutes during the 1st half gave Big Blue its largest lead of the contest at 25-18. However, UMF was up 36-34 at intermission.

UMF shot 46% from the field for the game to UNE's 39%, but UNE nailed four more treys than UMF.  UNE also owned a wide margin on rebounds 43 to 34, 12 of the Nor'easters coming on the offensive end.

UMaine-Farmington will travel to Saint Joseph's on November 21st to play the Monks, tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.  UNE returns home for the first time in 2016-17 on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) to entertain Bowdoin College.