GORHAM, Maine– After not eclipsing the 100-point mark since the 2007-2008 season, the University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's basketball team has done it in two consecutive games defeating the Bates College Bobcats in a high-scoring 106-92 non-conference game Tuesday night at Hill Gymnasium.

Six Huskies' scored in double-figures led by 21 points each from senior Jose Novchanthavong (Westbrook, Maine) and junior Atencio Martin (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) as USM captured its third straight win to improve to 4-1 on the season.  Bates, which entered tonight's game on a two-game win streak to start the season, falls to 2-1 with the loss.

Novchanthavong was 6-for-10 from the field with six assists, while Martin was 7-for-10, including 3-for-4 from three-point range to lead a hot-shooting Huskies team, which shot 58.1 percent (36-for-62) for the game.  Senior Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) had 17 points, while classmate Aaron Toman (Gardiner, Maine) added 13 points off of the bench.  Juniors Zach Leal (York, Maine) and Fred Knight (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) each had 11 points. 

Senior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn./Xavier) led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals for Bates.  Sophomore Shawn Strickland (Middletown, Conn./Taft) added 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Three players scored eight points each for the Bobcats, including juniors Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del./Wilmington Friends), Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del./Wilmington Friends) and Jermone Darling (Hartford, Conn./Classical Magnet).

Southern Maine raced out to a dominating 51-32 lead at the half as the Huskies shot a blistering 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from three point range in the opening 20 minutes.  Martin had 16 of his 21 in the first half.  USM controlled the game from the start as Libby opened the scoring with a three and the Huskies' rattled off a 12-2 run before the first three minutes were played. The Huskies' led by a comfortable 24-15 margin with 11:12 on the clock before closing the half outscoring Bates 27-17.

USM started the second half nearly as quickly as the first and grabbed a 61-36 lead with 17:32 to play in the game with an opening 10-4 run as Leal scored four points, and had a steal and an assist all within the first three minutes. The Huskies kept a large lead over the Bobcats and led by 20, 94-74 with 3:49 to play on a three from Novchanthavong, before Bates made a run to close the gap.

After Novchanthavong's three, Bates rattled off 12-4 run to trail 98-86 with 2:00 to play led by four points each from Boornazian and Strickland.  The Huskies were able to respond, however, with a layup from Libby and a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line down the stretch for the win.

Southern Maine returns to action on Sunday (7:30 p.m.) at local rival St. Joseph's College (Maine).  Bates hosts the University of New England on Sunday (5:00 p.m.). 

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