MONTCLAIR, New Jersey - The University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team secured a historic victory on Friday evening, taking down the tenth-ranked team in the country, Montclair State University, 96-84 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory for the Beavers marks just the second NCAA Tournament win in program history.

How it Happened:

The Beavers showed no fear right from the opening tip, as junior forward Jason Reynolds (Winslow, Maine) started the scoring with a deep three on Farmington's opening possession of the game.

Two minutes later, Reynolds drilled his second three, just two minutes and 20 seconds later, to ignite a quick 9-0 burst for the Beavers that included a three-point play the old-fashioned way from sophomore guard Zach McLaughlin (Hampden, Maine) and a deep three from the wing by sophomore forward Kory Donlin (Warren, Maine) to turn a 7-5 deficit into a 14-7 advantage in just 37 seconds of game time.

The Beavers' run was quickly answered by the Red Hawks, who went on a 15-2 spurt to take a 22-16 lead after nine and a half minutes of play. Red-hot three-point shooting from the Red Hawks sparked the run as Jacob Morales hit a pair of threes while Kunga Tsering, Christian Cevis, and Kabrien Goss all connected from beyond the arc during the run. In total, the Red Hawks hit 12 threes in the opening half, shooting 12-24 from beyond the arc.

In a half full of runs, the Beavers scored the next ten to quickly regain a 26-22 advantage. Junior guard Brayden St. Pierre (Readfield, Maine) hit his first of four threes and McLaughlin drilled his first during the Farmington run.

After a Tristan Robbins (Caribou, Maine) jumper made it a 28-25 game, the alternating runs continued as Montclair's three-point shooting sparked a 12-0 spurt that helped the Red Hawks take a nine-point lead, their largest of the game. Goss hit a pair and Mason Thear added one of his own during the Red Hawks' spurt.

Farmington closed the gap quickly, pulling back within two with 3:25 left to play in the opening half thanks to a jumper from Gabe Michaud (Gorham, Maine) and five quick points from junior forward Charlie Houghton (Dixfield, Maine).

The teams traded buckets over the final three minutes of the first half, and Montclair took a 44-39 lead into the intermission.

The Beavers opened the half on a 12-4 run to retake the lead, 51-48. Reynolds, Michaud, and Donlin all scored four points to help the Beavers reclaim the lead just four minutes into the second half.

The game stayed within four points over the next six minutes of play. After an Ahmad Robertson tip-in gave the Red Hawks a 63-60 advantage, St. Pierre drilled another three from the top of the key to knot the game at 63 apiece and spark a 10-0 spurt that put the Beavers up seven. The run was capped off by St. Pierre's third triple of the game.

Robertson and Morales each hit threes for the Red Hawks as Montclair attempted to cut into the Beaver advantage, but unlike the first half, the Beavers halted any Red Hawk momentum.

After Donlin hit a pair at the free throw line, Robertson hit another three to make it an 83-77 game with 2:20 left to play. Two possessions later, Reynolds drilled a three from the top of the key that would be the dagger, putting the Beavers up nine with 1:23 left in the game.

Reynolds hit a stepback jumper in the lane on the next possession and the Beavers were starting to feel it. St. Pierre, McLaughlin, and Reynolds all hit a pair from the charity stripe in the final minute to close out the monumental victory for the program.

After hitting 12 threes on 50% shooting in the first half, Farmington was able to keep the Red Hawks to just 6-of-25 (24%) shooting from beyond the arc in the second half.

Stats of the Game:

Farmington:
Field Goal Pct: 54.0% (34-for-63)
Three-Point Pct: 35.7% (10-for-28)
Free Throw Pct: 85.7% (18-for-21)
Rebounds (Total, Off-Def): 46 (8-38)
Turnovers: 18

Montclair State:
Field Goal Pct: 38.7% (29-for-75)
Three-Point Pct: 36.7% (18-for-49)
Free Throw Pct: 61.5% (8-for-13)
Rebounds (Total, Off-Def): 32 (12-20)
Turnovers: 13

Leaders - Farmington:

• Reynolds was a monster, finishing with 25 points and 21 rebounds to lead the way for the Beavers. Reynolds shot 9-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.
• St. Pierre did a little bit of everything, finishing with 17 points while shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, while also adding eight rebounds and five assists.
• McLaughlin battled foul trouble but still scored 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. He also added three boards and two steals.
• Michaud played all 40 minutes, shooting an extremely efficient 6-of-7 from the floor en route to scoring 14 points.
• Donlin added 13 points in just 24 minutes off the bench.

Leaders - Montclair St.

• Morales led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. He also pitched in with seven boards and three steals.
• Goss hit 5-of-14 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points.
• Robertson added ten points in 18 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT

The Beavers will take on Yeshiva University on Saturday evening in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off is set for 9:00 pm.