UMaine Farmington Pulls Away From Southern Maine

Recap, photo courtesy of USM

FARMINGTON, Maine – Issac Witham scored 18 points to lead five players in double-figures as the UMaine Farmington Beavers used a strong second half push to pull away from the University of Southern Maine Huskies 84-65 in a non-conference men's basketball Tuesday night at Dearborn Gymnasium.

With the win, UMaine Farmington improves to 4-3 overall.  The Beavers have won four of their last five games. Southern Maine drops to 1-7 with the loss.

Witham was 6-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range as all five of the UMF starters scored in double-digits.  Riley Robinson had 16 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.  Milani Hicks added 14 points, Eric Berry had 13, and Bill Ruby had 10.

Southern Maine senior Christian McCue (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) led all scorers with a season-high 26 points. McCue added a team-high four assists.  McCue was 6-for-12 from the field, and a strong 5-for-8 from three-point range.  Senior Donne Agossou (Auburn, Maine/Lewiston) and sophomore Keenan Hendricks (Owls Head, Maine/Oceanside) each had eight points.

Trailing 35-28 at the half, Southern Maine opened the second half on a 6-1 run to trail the Beavers by a possession 36-34 with 17:55 left in the game.  With the half-opening run, USM continued to nip at the heels of the Beavers and trailed by just six points, 47-41 with 13:51 to go on a pair of free throws from McCue. UMF responded to the Huskies however, and rolled up a 13-4 run to take a 60-45 with 9:24 on the clock capped by a three from Robinson. From there, the Beavers continued to pull away for the 84-65 final.

USM shot 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the field, while UMaine Farmington nearly connected on half of its shots at 49.1 percent (28-for-57). UMF held a 40-26 lead in rebounds, and knocked down 21-of-26 free throws.

Southern Maine returns to action on Saturday (3:00 pm) at Keene State College for a Little East Conference game.