STANDISH, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team dropped a non-conference road contest at the hand of St. Joseph's College, 82-74. The Beavers trailed by as many as 19 points in the 2nd half but were able to cut the deficit down to just three with 1:51 left to play in the game. But John Paul Frazier hit a pair of late free throws, followed by the dagger, a deep three-pointer from the wing to give the Monks an eight-point lead with just 24 seconds to play.
The Monks jumped out to a quick lead, burying four straight three-pointers on their first four possessions of the game. Ashtyn Abbott hit the first three consecutive threes while Frazier added one of his own to help St. Joe's take a quick 12-0 lead in the opening 1:37 of the game. Abbott picked up tonight where he left off against the Beavers a season ago. Last year Abbott tallied 27 points and 14 rebounds against Farmington. The Beavers did go on to win that game, 84-83.
After the Monks' opening surge the Beavers calmed down as a three from Zachary Mickle (Billerica, Mass.) got Farmington on the board. Back-to-back hoops from Abbott and Wani Donato extended the Monk lead to 13. The Beavers answered with a 17-4 run of their own to get back into the game, only trailing by three with ten minutes still to play in the quarter. First-year guard Brock Flagg (Brewer, Maine) sparked the run off the bench for the Beavers. Flagg entered the game four minutes into the quarter and quickly asserted himself, tallying ten consecutive Beaver points during the run to get the Beavers offense rolling.
It seemed every time the Beavers had the Monks on the ropes ready to surrender the lead, St. Joe's would respond with a spurt of their own to extend the lead and swing momentum slightly back into their favor. After Flagg had brought the Beavers within three, the Monks answered with a 15-7 scoring run to retake an 11-point lead. First-year Brayden St. Pierre (Readfield, Maine) hit an important three for the Beavers in the final minutes of the 1st half to make it a 38-30 lead going into the intermission.
A Simon Chadbourne (Portland, Maine) three in the opening minutes of the 2nd half capped off an 8-3 start to the half for the Beavers, cutting their deficit to just three. Once again as the Beaver got within three the Monks had an answer. Back-to-back three from Remijo Wani and Teagan Hynes, followed by a layup from Camryn Yorke quickly increased the Monks' lead to 11.
St. Joe's continued to open up their lead as a deep three from Braden Camire from the left wing gave them their biggest lead of the game at 70-51 with 8:26 to play.
The Beavers bench unit and sophomore Jordan Anthony (Farmington, Conn.) got to work, quickly cutting into the 19-point deficit. Anthony scored seven straight points for the Beavers, cutting the deficit back down to 12.
A deep transition three from the top of the key from Mason Desjardins (Jackman, Maine) with 4:52 to play in the game got the Beavers back within ten. On the ensuing Beaver offensive possession, Anthony got to the rim, drew a blocking foul, and nailed the free throw to make it a seven point game with just under four to go in the game.
After Hynes made the 2nd of his two free throw attempts, Ethan Forrester (Colorado Springs, Colo.) got all the way to the hoop on a left-handed drive for an easy layup to make it a 76-70 game. The Beavers forced a steal and got a big block on consecutive defensive possessions but only had one point to show for it, an Anthony free throw to cut their deficit to five with 2:11 to play.
Another Anthony steal and layup got the Beavers back within three with 1:51 to play. But like the other two occasions the Beavers got within three points, the Monks had an answer. This time the Monks answered and with five big points from Frazier to close out the game and secure the victory.
Flagg scored a game-high 18 points off the bench, shooting 7-11 from the field. Flagg also grabbed six boards and three steals. Anthony finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Mickle and Forrester each chipped in with nine points.
Abbott and Frazier each tallied 16 points with each player hitting four big threes for the Monks. Hynes finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
UP NEXT
The Beavers return to action on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM when they take on Southern Maine Community College in a scrimmage at home. The next regular season game is one Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM on the road against the University of Southern Maine.
