11/16/07

Men's basketball cruises in opener

FARMINGTON -- The University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball placed four players in double figures in rolling to a 91-35 victory over the University of Maine at Presque Isle in the season opener at the Hight Chevrolet Men's Basketball Tournament Friday in Dearborn Gymnasium.

The Beavers are scheduled to face Trinity (Conn.) College in the championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Bantams defeated the University of Southern Maine 67-58 in the evening's other contest.

Sean Fry (Jay, ME) paced Farmington with 17 points and 12 rebounds with Matt St. John (Wayne, ME) and Isaac Hutchinson (Oakland, ME) each striking for 16 points and Kevin Leary (Manchester, ME) popping in 11 points in six minutes off the bench.

Farmington went double-digits (17-7) seven minutes into the contest and built an 48-24 lead at intermission. St. John scored all of his points in the opening stanza with three 3-pointers. Hutchinson also posted 10 points in the frame.

The Beavers used a 21-0 run in the second half to further distance themselves from the Owls and salt away the 91-35 victory.

Anthony Wingate (East Orange, NJ) led UMPI with 12 points. The Owls shot 22.6 percent (14 of 62) from the field, while Farmington converted 35 of its 75 attempts (46.7 percent).

In the USM-Trinity game, the Bantams used an 8-0 run to end the first half and build a double-digit lead at intermission to hold off the Huskies.

Patrick Hasiuk (Enfield, CT) tallied 16 points to lead Trinity with Robert Taylor (Boston, MA) adding 14 points and Russ Martin (East Longmeadow, MA) chipping in 12 points off the bench.

After a see-saw first 18 minutes, 3-pointers by  Hasiuk and Aaron Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland) helped Trinity take a 35-24 into the locker room at halftime. USM got as close as four points in the second half, but the Bantam lead frequented double-digits in holding on for the win.

Drew Coppenrath (Barnet, VT) led the Huskies with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Phil Broomfield (Hackensack, NJ) and Josh Daniels (Everett, WA) scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.

UMF-UMPI box score

Trinity-USM box score