BANGOR, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team surrendered a 15-point lead in the 2nd half but dug deep to reclaim the lead and close out the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Friday evening in a North Atlantic Conference quarterfinal game held at Husson University, 60-58.

Friday evening's 1st round playoff game between the Beavers and the Owls followed an eerily similar script to the first two meetings between the teams earlier this season. In the first meeting between the teams, the Beavers built an early 13-point lead, and the Owls would not go away, clawing back on numerous occasions to take down the Beavers, 77-68.

In the second matchup between the teams, the Beavers once again built a double-digit lead, leading by 13. Once again, the Owls clawed back, sending the game into overtime. The Beavers went on to win the game in overtime, 92-87.

Tonight, after the Beavers were initially held scoreless for the opening three minutes and 36 seconds of the game, Farmington responded in a big way, taking a 12-point lead into halftime and leading by as much as 15 in the 2nd half. But similarly to both regular-season matchups, the Owls would not go away, fighting back and not going quietly.

Simon Chadbourne (Portland, Maine) drilled a three from the top of the key to get the Beavers on the board after the team missed their first five shots of the game.
After a layup from Doug McCalla with 11:22 left to play in the opening half gave the Owls a 17-11 lead, the Beavers responded with a quick 9-0 spurt to grab their first lead of the game. Ethan Forrester (Colorado Springs, Colo.) highlighted the run with a three, a steal to set up a transition three for Chadbourne, and a layup after a nifty move in the paint.

After another McCalla layup cut the Beavers' lead to two, Jordan Anthony (Farmington, Conn.), Dylan Griffin (Saco, Maine), and Chadbourne all hit threes to help Farmington open up an 11-point lead with 3:26 left to play in the 1st half. A minute and a half later, Anthony converted a reverse layup off a beautiful feed from Chadbourne as the Beavers opened up a 13-point lead, their biggest of the half.

After the Beavers took a 36-24 lead into halftime, a jumper from Brock Flagg (Brewer, Maine) and a layup from Griffin in the opening minutes of the 2nd half extended the Beavers' lead to a game-high 15.

The Owls began to dig deep, finding another gear to fight back into the ball game. Trailing 40-25, UMPI responded with a 10-0 scoring burst led primarily by their bench unit, closing their deficit to just five, reaching a game-high 15. Akhe McMichael converted an and-one, and Charlie Mellick drilled a three to spark the run.
The Beavers didn't fold, responding with a 9-0 run of their own as Chadbourne drilled another three and a jumper in the lane to open up a 51-37 lead.

The Owls once again had an answer, showing their fight and determination. A quick 8-0 run cut their deficit to just six with 7:41 left to play. After a layup from Griffin stopped the momentum momentarily, the Owls kept coming.

Trailing by five with just under five minutes to play, Gilbert Jean Mendez hit a jumper in the paint and then drilled a three after the under-four media timeout to tie the game up for the first time since midway through the 1st half.

The teams traded buckets on the next four possessions as the game was knotted up at 58 with two minutes to play. Zachary Mickle (Billerica, Mass.) missed a go-ahead three opportunity with 1:49 to play. But the Beavers forced a UMPI turnover on the ensuing possession to get the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

Each team missed a shot in the paint on their next possession, giving the Beavers the ball once again with a chance to take the lead. But strong defense from McMichael to jump the passing lane and force a turnover gave UMPI the ball with the game still tied.

After an Owl timeout, Jean Mendez missed a pull-up jumper in the lane, giving the Beavers the ball back. The Beavers called a timeout to set up their offense. After working some clock, the ball found Griffin on the left wing who faked a dribble handoff with Mickle to get into the lane where he hit a contested layup and drew a foul to give the Beavers a two-point lead.

Griffin missed the free throw as the lead remained two. On the ensuing Owl possession, Jean Mendez got all the way to the bucket but missed a point-blank layup that would have tied the game up at 60. The miss was rebounded by Mickle who was fouled and sent to the free-throw line.

Mickle missed the front end of the one-and-one, and it was rebounded by McCalla, setting up an opportunity for UMPI to either win the game at the buzzer with a three or send the game to overtime with a two-pointer. Dany Harris got into the paint but missed a heavily contested jump as the Beavers held on to knock the Owls out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Griffin led the Beavers with a game-high 17 points, including the game-winner. Griffin also pitched in with nine boards. Chadbourne knocked down 4-8 from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Anthony pitched in with nine points, six rebounds, and five assists.

UMPI had three in double figures, led by McCalla's 15 points and ten rebound performance. Jean Mendez finished with ten points and four assists. McMichael pitched in with ten points and four rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Beavers will take on Husson University tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM for the right to play in the NAC Championship game. Husson topped Maine Maritime in the other East quarterfinal, 88-53.