Huskies knock off UMaine 78-73 in exhibition

More news about: Southern Maine
Nov 01, 2014
Southern Maine athletics photo
Just 14 days after their first allowable practice the University of Southern Maine Huskies scrapped their way to 78-73 win over Division I University of Maine Black Bears in a men's college basketball exhibition game Saturday night at Hill Gymnasium on Southern Maine's campus.
The game was the first as head coach for Bob Walsh, who was hired at Maine after a successful coaching career at Division III Rhode Island College.
Heading into the 2014-2015 without a senior on its roster and having graduated its top three scorers from the 2013-2014 season, the Huskies relied on their youth, led by sophomore Zach Leal. Leal had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead four Huskies in doubles figures in the win. Junior Jacob Little Field added 12 points and six rebounds, while junior Sean Caddigan and junior transfer Alex Fraser each tossed in 11 points. 

Maine junior forward Till Gloger led the Black Bears with a monster double-double with a game-high 23 points and 19 rebounds.  Gloger was 10-for-16 from the field and had four steals.  Junior guard Shaun Lawton added 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, while freshman guard Kevin Little added 13 points and three assists.

After falling behind early 5-0 and trailing the Black Bears 10-4 in the opening four minutes, USM rebounded to grab the slightest of margins with an 11-10 lead as Leal scored five straight points, including a traditional three-point play with the hoop and the hard capped by a short jumper in the paint from sophomore Fred Knight with 14:29 on the clock.

Back in the game, the Huskies battled back and forth with the Black Bears. The score was knotted up at 16 with 11:01 to play when UMaine rattled off six straight points on back-to-back three-pointers from Little to snag a 22-16 lead.  UMaine kept a two possession advantage until late in the half and led 33-28 with 2:00 to play on a jumper from Gloger before USM used a three from Caddigan and two free throws from junior Ben Jackson to pull even at 33 with 55 seconds in the half.  UMaine answered with a traditional three-point play from Lawton for a 36-33 advantage before Leal pulled the Huskies' to within a point in the final seconds with a layup for a 36-35 halftime score in favor of Maine.

UMaine started the second half in control and outscored USM 6-1 in the opening three minutes of the second stanza as Gloger, Lawton and sophomore Garet Beal each scored layups for a 42-36 lead. The Black Bears stayed in front of USM for the first five minutes of the half, leading 48-43, with 14:51 to play, before USM used a 13-2 run to take the lead for good.

After three free throws from Lawton gave UMaine the 48-43 lead, USM junior forward Aaron Toman scored five straight points on a jumper and a three pointer off of feeds from Leal and junior guard Cole Libby to tie the score at 48.  Lawton stemmed the flow for the Black Bears with a running jumper in the paint for a 50-48 UMaine lead, but the Huskies' countered with a three from Fraser, a steal from Toman that led to a layup from junior Jalen Lincoln and another three from Fraser for a 56-50 lead.

Following the Huskies' surge, UMaine called a timeout and Gloger made it a four-point game with a layup, but again Southern Maine rode the hot hand of Fraser who scored five straight points on a layup and a three-pointer for a nine-point, 61-52, USM lead with 7:39 to play. One of two free throws from Lawton and a three from Little bookended a jumper from Leal to make it a 63-56 game in favor of USM with 7:00 to play, but the Huskies' Lincoln canned a three to give USM its largest lead of the game, 66-56, with 6:43 to play.

Trading baskets, USM continued to lead the Black Bears by 10, 68-58, with just over six minutes to go when UMaine used a 7-0 run to pull to within a basket.  Gloger scored four points in the run, while Lawton added a basket as UMaine trailed 68-65 with 4:39 on the clock.  The Huskies' Littlefield halted the UMaine run with a long jumper to give USM a two-possession advantage, 70-65, and both teams settled into a back-and-forth battle over the two and a half minutes. 

USM lead 75-68 with 2:15 to play on a layup from Knight, before Gloger connected for a layup and freshman Aaron Calixte drained a three to pull within a basket of USM 75-73 with 1:35 to play.  USM misfired on its next possession and UMaine had a chance to tie the game or pull ahead with a three, but the Huskies' Knight took a charge on a driving Lawton to give the Huskies the ball back under a minute to go. Both teams squandered their next possessions before Libby and Leal closed the game out on the line for USM making three of four free throws.