FARMINGTON, Maine – The University of Southern Maine men's basketball team seemingly could not miss on Wednesday evening, defeating the University of Maine at Farmington in a highly competitive non-conference battle at Dearborn Gymnasium. The Huskies shot 63.3% from the floor en route to a 103-90 victory.

The Records:

Following the loss, Farmington dropped to 1-3 on the young season. The Huskies remained perfect, moving to 4-0.

How it Happened:

The opening 15 minutes of play were back and forth, with both teams hitting big shot after big shot as they battled for control of the game. The Beavers started by turning the Huskies over on consecutive possessions, and a three-pointer from first-year guard Gabe Michaud (Gorham, Maine) staked Farmington to a 3-0 lead early.

After a layup from Dylan Griffin (Saco, Maine) gave the Beavers an 8-7 lead, the Huskies rattled off a quick 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead, behind a pair of buckets from both Diego Colon and Brady Saunders.

First-year Zach McLaughlin (Hampden, Maine) drilled a three from the wing to end the Huskies' run and spark a 14-2 run for Farmington, turning a seven-point deficit into a five-point lead—the biggest lead of the game for the Beavers.

As seemed to be the case for most of the night, Saunders had the answer for the Huskies, scoring nine of their next 14 points, leading a 14-7 stretch that saw Southern Maine reclaim the lead.

After a Saunders layup gave Southern Maine the 31-29 lead, the Huskies drained three threes on three straight possessions to take a nine-point lead, their biggest of the opening half.

Behind 21 points from Saunders, Southern Maine took a 50-43 lead into halftime.

Southern Maine's offense kept rolling to open the second half, outscoring Farmington 20-10 across the opening seven minutes of play, opening up a 70-53 lead.

The Huskies clung to a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, leading by as many as 20 with five and a half minutes left to play. But after that, the Beavers began to chip away. A three from McLaughlin, a layup from Jason Reynolds (Winslow, Maine), and a free throw from Jordan Anthony (Farmington, Conn.) cut the lead back down to 14.

A block from Anthony led to a McLaughlin dunk, and McLaughlin then came up with a steal, hit a layup, and got fouled to make it an 11-point game with 2:21 left. McLaughlin missed the free throw but grabbed the long rebound, stepped back, and drilled a three to cut the lead to just eight. But that was as close as the Beavers got, as the Huskies hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.

Stats of the Game:

The Huskies used their hot shooting to come away with the victory, shooting a scorching 63.3% (38-60) from the floor and 58.3% (14-24) from beyond the arc. The Beavers shot 45.9% (34-74) from the floor, hitting 42.4% (14-33) from three. Farmington didn't help their cause at the free-throw line, hitting just 40% (8-20) from the charity stripe.

Leaders - Farmington:

• McLaughlin led four Beavers in double figures, scoring 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, hitting three triples.
• Reynolds finished with 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Reynolds shot an efficient 8-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-7 from downtown.
• Simon Chadbourne (Portland, Maine) hit 4-for-10 from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points.
• Griffin added 11 points and four rebounds.

Leaders - Southern Maine:

• Saunders scored a game-high 34 points, shooting an ultra-efficient 13-of-19 from the floor, including 6-for-10 from three. He also finished with six assists for the Huskies.
• Bryce Lausier filled up the stat sheet, finishing the game with 25 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists to help carry the load offensively.
• Diego Colon chipped in with 19 points and three steals while shooting 5-of-9 from the field, hitting three threes.
• Thomas Whelan added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Huskies. Whelan shot 7-for-10 from the floor and hit 3-of-4 from range.

UP NEXT

The Beavers will look to get back in the win column on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Dean College for a matchup with the Bulldogs. Game time is set for 1:00 PM.