LYNDON CENTER, Vt. -- Junior center Ben Johnson (Manchester, Maine/Maranacook) finished the day with 26 points, 16 rebounds, and two blocked shots to lead UMaine-Farmington to a convincing 74-59 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball win, Saturday afternoon at Stannard Gym.
Andrew Dickey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) had 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals for UMaine-Farmington (8-3, 4-2 North Atlantic Conference) while Yusuf Iman (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) and Nick Hilton (Wilton, Maine/Mt. Blue) added 14 and 10 points respectively. Sam Leal (York, Maine/York) had a team-high five assists in the victory.
Devyn Baranauskas collected 22 points and three assists for Lyndon (5-4, 4-1 North Atlantic Conference) and George Carle had 13 points and five rebounds. Jose Fortunato chipped in six assists and six rebounds; and Jason Gray blocked two shots in the contest.
The Beavers opened up a lead on the Hornets over the final three minutes of the first half, breaking open what had been a nip-and-tuck affair and giving UMF a 40-32 lead at the break.
Lyndon State pulled to within two points, 46-44, at the 13:39 mark of the second half after a 3-pointer and a pair of foul shots by Baranauskas. Farmington answered with a 14-1 run lasting nearly four minutes, giving the Beavers a 60-45 lead.
The Hornets made a late run to pull within five of the Beavers with just under five minutes to play, but UMF went 6-of-6 at the charity stripe over the last three-and-a-half minutes and had buckets by Johnson and Hilton to secure the win.
UMaine-Farmington will host Maine Maritime on Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 p.m. at Dearborn Gym, the start of a stretch that will see the Beavers play five of their next seven games at home.
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