Gorham, Maine--Rhode Island College freshman forward Justin Campbell (New Haven, CT) scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench as the men's basketball team fell to Little East Conference foe Southern Maine, 78-69, on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies (14-9, 8-4 LEC) raced out to a 7-2 lead, capped by a three-pointer from junior guard Zach Leal (York, ME) with 17:19 remaining in the half. The Anchormen (4-19, 4-8 LEC) trimmed the lead down to three, 10-7, following a layup by Campbell with 11:40 left in the stanza. A made jumper by USM freshman guard Byron McMillian, Washington, DC) put the Huskies up, 23-14, with 6:53 left in the first half.
USM continued the offensive onslaught, ballooning its advantage to 17 points, 37-20, following a pair of free throws by senior forward Aaron Toman (Gardiner, ME) with 1:56 left in the half. RIC was able to score the last four points of the half to send the game into the locker room with the Huskies up, 37-24.
RIC shot 32.4 percent (11-for-34) from the field in the half, while the Huskies shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27).
The Anchormen opened the second half quickly, with back-to-back layups by sophomore guard Malcolm Smith (Old Orchard Beach, ME) cutting the deficit down to seven, 40-33, with 17:12 remaining in the contest.
USM rebounded, with a trifecta by senior guard Jose Nouchanthavong (Westbrook, ME) putting the hosts up 17, 52-35, with 12:54 left on the clock. The Anchormen were able to continue the pressure, and a layup from freshman guard Jimmy Fritzson (Sharon, MA) would cut the Huskies' lead down to five, 66-61, with 2:25 remaining. The teams see-sawed down the stretch with USM outscoring the Anchormen, 12-8, over the remaining 2:25 to secure the league victory.
RIC shot 41.2 percent (28-for-68) from the field, 30.0 percent (6-for-20) from downtown and 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from the charity stripe. Fritzson led all Anchormen scorers with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Campbell's 14 points and six boards off the bench led all substitute scoring for the contest.
USM shot 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the field, 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from three-point land and 79.4 percent (27-for-34) from the charity stripe. Leal led all scorers with 23 points to go along with five rebounds. Toman tossed in 10 points off the bench. Nouchanthavong scored 13 points, grabbed seven boards, dished out four assists and swiped four steals in the victory.
In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will continue Little East Conference action at homes against Western Connecticut on Wednesday, Feb. 17 (7:30 p.m.).