POULTNEY, Vt. – Embroiled in a four-way tie for second place in the conference, University of Maine at Farmington defeated Green Mountain College, one of the other teams tied for second, 59-54 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's basketball on Friday night at the Eagle Dome.

The win propelled the Beavers overall record to 9-11 and lifted the team's NAC mark to 8-5 and kept the team tied for second with Castleton who also earned a victory tonight over Thomas. The Eagles slipped to 10-9 overall and fell into a tie for fourth place at 7-6 in the conference. 

UMaine-Farmington was led by Amir Moss who recorded 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting. The only other Beaver to register double-digit points was Issac Witham who notched 10 points and added three assists. Tyus Ripley led the team in rebounding with eight boards and matched that total in points. Eric Berry led the reserves with seven points and six boards. 

Green Mountain's offense was paced by Javier Lugris who scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and complemented that with 12 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Patrick Rittmon tallied 12 points but was just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Diante Warner came off the bench for six points to lead all subs. 

GMC held the lead for the majority of the first half.  After the Eagles overcame Riley Robinson's early three-pointer to start the game, they would hold the lead which they grew to 11 at one point for the remainder of the half and headed to the locker room with a 34-28 advantage. Lugris posted 16 of his 20 points in the opening stanza. 

UMF quickly chipped away at the lead and took their first lead of the second half less than three minutes into the period when Moss made back-to-back layups to give the visitors a 35-34 lead. 

The teams battled back and forth throughout the second half with neither team able to gain a lead of more than four points. After Lugris hit a pair of freebies to put the hosts up 54-50 with 3:25 remaining in the game, Robinson hit his only other triple of the night to pull within one at 54-53. The Eagles failed to convert of a couple of chances on their next possession and Jimmie Chaisson hit a clutch jumper to give the Beavers a 55-54 lead with 1:40 to play. 

The Eagles turned the ball over on their next possession, a microcosm of their night, and then had to foul down the stretch to stop the clock. Witham hit both free throws while Robinson hit another to seal the win for the Beavers. 

The Beavers shot 24-of-67 (36.8%) from the floor while the Eagles were 19-of-58 (32.8%). GMC held the advantage in rebounding with a 47-40 edge, but turnovers were the team's Achilles heel as it turned the ball over 19 times to the Beavers' eight. The visitors took advantage of that notching 16 points off said turnovers. 

Both teams will be back in NAC action again on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Eagles will host Thomas in a battle for fourth place, while UMF will travel down the road to visit Castleton to see who will remain in the second spot.