GORHAM, Maine - The University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team trailed by 11 at halftime and by as much as 17 midway through the second half before roaring all the way back to make it a one-possession game, but was unable to get all the way over the hump, dropping Wednesday's non-conference battle, 85-82, at the hands of the University of Southern Maine.

The Records:

The loss for the Beavers snapped a five-game winning streak and moves them to 7-3 on the season. The win for the Huskies brings them back to .500 at 5-5.

How it Happened:

The opening ten minutes of action were a back-and-forth offensive battle with both teams shooting the ball at a very high clip. A three-pointer from sophomore forward Kory Donlin (Warren, Maine) at the 10:55 mark gave Farmington a 20-18 lead.

The Huskies responded as a Thomas Whelan pull-up jumper and deep three sandwiched a Cohen Galley layup, putting them up five. Farmington briefly answered with a three from Charlie Houghton (Dirigo, Maine) followed by a Gabe Michaud (Gorham, Maine) layup to tie the game at 25 with 8:40 left in the opening half.

After getting seemingly whatever they wanted offensively for the first 11:20 of action, Farmington's offense stalled to close the half. The Beavers scored just four points over the final 8:40 and went into the intermission trailing 40-29.

Whelan paced the Huskies in the opening half, having his way on the offensive end en route to tallying 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

The second half began with more of the same, as the Huskies continued to attack off the bounce and create good looks at the rim and in the mid-range. A three-pointer from Whelan with 14:38 left gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game at 54-37.

The teams traded buckets as Farmington continued to trail by 17 with 10:18 remaining.

Farmington then began to chip away. A layup and a potential three-point play from Michaud provided the spark the Beavers needed, fueling an 11-2 run capped by a three from Jason Reynolds (Winslow, Maine) to cut the deficit to eight with 8:18 still to play.

Sophomore guard Zach McLaughlin (Hampden, Maine) caught fire as Farmington pushed hard to complete the comeback, scoring the next nine Beaver points. However, Farmington was unable to string together the necessary defensive stops. Whelan, alongside Evans Sterling, continued to hit big shots, with the duo combining for 31 second-half points to keep the Beavers at bay.

In the final two minutes, Reynolds hit back-to-back threes, and McLaughlin went 1-of-2 at the free throw line to cut the deficit to four. Reynolds grabbed the miss on the second free throw, but a three-pointer by Brayden St. Pierre (Readfield, Maine) rimmed out, which would have cut the lead to one with 25 seconds left.

After Gabe Lash missed the front end of a one-and-one, Michaud drove the length of the court for a layup to make it a two-point game with seven seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Farmington sent Whelan to the line for a one-and-one. His first free throw bounced several times before dropping, and he made the second to push the lead to 84-80. McLaughlin scored quickly with two seconds remaining, but Whelan hit the first of two free throws on the next trip, and the Beavers were unable to get a shot off in the final moments as Southern Maine held on.

Stats of the Game

Farmington:
Field Goal Pct: 40.3% (31-for-77)
Three-Point Pct: 32.3% (10-for-31)
Free Throw Pct: 71.4% (10-for-14)
Rebounds (Total, Off-Def): 37 (13-24)
Turnovers: 9

Southern Maine:
Field Goal Pct: 55.0% (33-for-60)
Three-Point Pct: 31.3% (5-for-16)
Free Throw Pct: 73.7% (14-for-19)
Rebounds (Total, Off-Def): 44 (8-36)
Turnovers: 17

Leaders - Farmington:

• McLaughlin finished with a team-high 28 points, shooting 11-for-22 from the floor and grabbing two rebounds.
• Reynolds recorded his sixth straight double-double, contributing 19 points and 12 rebounds while hitting 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
• Houghton also finished in double figures, adding 11 points to go with eight rebounds.

Leaders - Southern Maine:

• Whelan led all scorers with a game-high 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. He also finished with five rebounds and five assists.
• Sterling shot 6-of-8 from both the floor and the free throw line on his way to 18 points and seven rebounds.
• Noah Dowling finished with seven points and pulled down 15 rebounds.
• Carter Galley came off the bench to contribute 11 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes.

UP NEXT

Farmington will return home to take on the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Friday evening at 5:30 PM in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action.