BANGOR, Maine – University of Maine at Farmington junior Ben Johnson (Manchester, Maine/Maranacook) scored his 1,000th career point and grabbed his 600th career rebound, but that ended up being the subplot as the Beavers posted a 77-67 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball win over Husson University, Tuesday night at Newman Gymnasium.
UMaine-Farmington improved to 19-5 overall and 14-4 in the NAC, clinching the no. 1 seed for next week's NAC Tournament. Husson fell to 12-4 in the conference, 15-8 overall.
With Johnson drawing plenty of double-team attention from Husson, juniors Nate Carson (Orrington, Maine/Brewer) and Andrew Dickey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) picked up the scoring and finished with 21 points each. Carson was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and 7-of-9 overall from the floor, while Dickey went 10-of-11 at the free-throw line to augment his 5-of-8 mark from the field.
Dickey completed the double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds, and dished out a game high six assists.
Johnson, who entered the game needing 10 points to reach the 1,000 mark for his career, finished the game with 15 points. He picked up five points in the first half, and didn't pick up his first points of the second half until a jumper with 13:55 remaining to give the Beavers a 43-37 lead.
Johnson was fouled on his successful jumper with 10:32 showing on the clock, and made the "plus one" for his 1,000th point and a 52-43 Farmington lead. He became the 24th player in UMF men's basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Johnson will head into Saturday's regular season finale against Thomas College needing just three points to post only the fourth 500-point season for UMF men's hoops.
The Beavers' lead reached its widest at 12 points, 59-47, on a Yusuf Iman (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) 3-pointer with 6:57 remaining. Farmington held a double-digit lead for the bulk of the game, with Husson briefly making a run to cut the margin to seven point with three minutes remaining.
The Eagles held a 33-31 lead at the intermission, and the two teams traded the lead twice in the in the first five minutes of the second half. A back-to-back trey and two-point bucket by Carson gave the Beavers a four-point lead, 41-37 with 14:16 to play. Johnson extended the margin just seconds later with his traditional three-point play to reach 1,000 points.
Husson's Eric Modica led the Eagles with 15 points on a 7-of-17 effort from the floor, while Marc Zaharchuk and Aaron Willis each chipped in 11 points.
UMaine-Farmington shot 54.8 percent (23-of-42) from the field, including a 10-of-17 mark from beyond the arc. Husson was held to just 43.3 percent (26-of-60) shooting, and connected on just three of its 17 3-point attempts. The Beavers also outrebounded the Eagles, 32 to 21.
UMF closes out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1:00 p.m. when it hosts Thomas at Dearborn Gym.
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