Gorham, Maine-Freshman guard Roosevelt Shider (Meriden, CT) scored a career-high 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting from downtown as the Rhode Island College men's basketball team used a late run to top Little East Conference foe Southern Maine, 72-57, at Hill Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

The win marks the fifth in a row for the Anchormen (11-3, 3-1 LEC).

RIC jumped out to a 7-2 lead just 2:47 into the contest when  senior forward Chris Burton (New Rochelle, NY) made a layup off a feed from senior guard Eric Alleyne (Watertown, MA).

Southern Maine (3-11, 0-4 LEC) junior Sean Caddigan (Bethel, ME) capped a 12-5 USM run when he buried a three-pointer with 11:48 remaining in the first half. The teams were in a seesaw battle until late when five straight points by Shider pushed the RIC lead to eight, 28-20, with 5:51 remaining. The Huskies battled back, but an old fashion three-point play but Burton gave the Anchormen their halftime lead of six, 32-26.

Shider had 14 points in the half for RIC, while USM junior forward Jacob Littlefield (Mechanic Falls, ME) scored 11.

The second half saw the Huskies close the gap early and finally take the lead at the 8:36 mark of the final stanza when junior guard Alex Fraser (Portland, ME) nailed a trifecta to put the hosts up, 46-45. That would be the last lead USM held however, as the Anchormen turned up the defensive intensity down the stretch, outscoring the Huskies 27-11 over the remaining 11:24 to take the game, 72-57.

Littlefield paced the Huskies with 21 points, while sophomore guard Zach Leal (York, ME) also scored in double figures with 11 points. USM shot 46.8 percent (22-for-47) from the field, 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from downtown and struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 40.0 percent (6-for-15).

Shider scored his game-high 23 on 6-of-10 shooting from long range. Burton did it all for the Anchormen, scoring 15 points, grabbing six boards, swiping four steals and handing out three assists. Junior forward Patrick Matthews (Waipahu, HI) scored eight points and hauled in eight boards off the bench for the visitors. RIC finished the game shooting 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the field, 40.9 percent (9-for-22) from long range and 68.8 percent (11-for-16) from the charity stripe.

In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will continue Little East Conference action at home against Plymouth State on Saturday, January 17 (3 p.m.).