FARMINGTON, Maine – Four University of Maine at Farmington players scored in double figures to lead the top-seeded Beavers to an 85-66 win over eighth-seeded New England College, in Tuesday night's North Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal at Dearborn Gymnasium.
UMaine-Farmington improved to 21-5 with the victory, matching the program record for most wins in a season last set in the 1999-2000 campaign. The Beavers advance to Friday's NAC Tournament Semifinals, where they will host fourth-seeded Castleton State College. Castleton State knocked off Lyndon State, 91-81, in the quarterfinals.
New England College closes the books on its 2012-13 campaign with a 3-23 record.
Junior Andrew Dickey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) paced UMaine-Farmington with 26 points, largely on his 10-of-15 effort from the field. Junior Garrett Clemmer (Windham, Maine/Windham) notched 16 points, while junior Ben Johnson (Manchester, Maine/Maranacook) finished with 15 points. Yusuf Iman (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) rounded out the list of double-digit scorers with 13 points and four assists.
Johnson charted nine rebounds, leading a UMF squad that outrebounded NEC, 40-33. Nate Carson (Orrington, Maine/Brewer) finished with no points, but dished out a team-high six assists.
New England College senior Abdirahman Mohamed (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting, while Dezron Wilson (Hartford, Conn.) came off the bench to chip in 11 points.
Farmington jumped out to an early lead on NEC, building a double-digit margin as early as the 11:51 mark of the first half on a Clemmer 3-pointer. The Beavers went into the locker room at halftime with a 51-33 advantage, after shooting 68.0 percent (17-of-25) in the opening stanza. UMF held the Pilgrims to just 36.1 percent shooting (13-of-36) in the first half.
The second half was more of the same for UMaine-Farmington. The Beavers shooting cooled to 46.4 percent, but New England College managed just nine field goals in the half.
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