FARMINGTON, Maine -- The University of Maine at Farmington withstood a New England College comeback to post a 73-65 victory over the Pilgrims in North Atlantic Conference men's basketball action today at Dearborn Gymnasium.

The Beavers upped their record to 12-8 overall and 12-2 in the NAC. UMF is slated to host Bates College Tuesday at 7 p.m. NEC dropped to 5-16 (4-10) with Maine Maritime Academy at home Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Beavers appeared comfortably in control when Pet Sumner (Cramerton, N.C.) drained a 3-pointer gave the hosts a 46-28 cushion with 17:14 remaining in the game, but the Pilgrims battled back, outscoring UMF 24-10 over the next 11 minutes to trim the deficit to 56-52 on an Eric Eklund (West Harrison, N.Y.) basket with 6:38 to play.

Nate Carson (Orrington, Maine) buried back-to-back nearly-identical threes from the top of the arc to give the Beavers breathing room at 62-52 with 5:59 to go. Kevin Leary (Manchester, Maine) followed with a 3-pointer as UMF distanced itself from the Pilgrims 65-52 with 4:51 to play.

Another 7-0 run helped NEC get the lead down to 65-59 with 3:17 to go, but Leary answered with a run-quelling 3-pointer and Ben Johnson (Manchester, Maine) put the exclamation point on the win with a one-handed slam for a 72-61 advantage with 1:03 left in the contest.

Johnson powered the Beavers with game-highs of 20 points and 12 boards, while Leary ended up with 15 points, including four threes, and Carson and Andrew Dickey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) each tallied 11 points. Dan Kane (Bradford, Maine) dished out six assists in the win and Carson finished with five assists.

Jonathan Byrnes (Bethel, Conn.) led the Pilgrims with 16 points, while Abdirahman Mohamed (Biddeford, Maine) provided 12 points and Eklund finished with 11 points off the bench. Byrnes and Mohamed scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the second half.

The Beavers shot 49.1 percent (28-57) from the floor, including 45.2 percent (14-31) from the foul line, while NEC made 39.7 percent (25-63) with 29.4 percent (5-17) from beyond the arc.

UMF made five 3-pointers in the first 8:17 to help the Beavers out to a 17-9 lead. The Pilgrims knocked the lead down to 19-18 on a Jeremiah Johnson (Huntsville, Utah) trey with 7:57 until intermission, but the Beavers scored the game's next 13 points to help the hosts to a 37-23 halftime lead.