HUSSON -- Fans who packed into Newman gymnasium for Thursday night’s matchup between Husson University and Umaine-Farmington were witnesses to one of the most thrilling games a fan could ever hope to see.

Trailing by as much as 18 points a few minutes into the second half, UMaine roared back to defeat the Eagles 67-64. On this night, it was sophomore forward Andrew Dickey who made the biggest shot of the night.

The game started out with UMaine jumping out to a quick 13-4 lead. From there, Husson would outscore UMaine 29-11 to take an eleven point lead to halftime.

The Eagles continued to dominate UMaine to start the second half, eventually building a 45-27 lead off an Eric Modica three-pointer.

UMF coach Richard Meader says he switched to a zone defense at that point. It helped a lot, as the Beavers started to get a lot of defensive stops. "we did a good job of finally getting stops at the defensive end," Meader said.

From there, the Beavers built some momentum and mounted a comeback. UMF cut the score all the way down to 54-48, until Modica came back with a nifty three-point-play to put Husson back up by nine.

Clutch shooting from beyond the arc got UMF back into this game. Two big three’s by Pet Sumner brought UMaine within one at 59-58.

Forward Kevin Leary came back down the court and drained a three that gave UMaine its first lead since early in the first half. The Beavers held a 61-59 lead with less than a minute and a half to play.

Husson tied the game up at 61 after a Mike Gonzales layup, but that tie did not last very long, as UMaine marched back down the floor and took a three-point lead after a big shot by Kevin Leary, who finished with 14 points.

Husson, down three with just ten seconds left, got the ball in the hands of Gonzales, who was fouled while shooting a three. After Gonzales made his first two free-throws, UMaine coach Dick Meader called timeout.

Following the timeout, Gonzales went back top the line and made his third shot. Dickey took the ball out and inbounded it to Dan Kane, who dribbled the ball down the right side passed half court, and flipped it back to a wide-open Dickey who hit the three just as time expired. Dickey had scored only two points in the game before that shot.

"Guys made some big shots, and we survived a defensive mistake at the end of the game," said coach Meader.

The Farmington crowd crowd celebrated as Dickey’s teammates mobbed him on the court. “It was a great feeling considering we had fought all the way back in the second half,” said Kevin Leary. “It feels so great to beat good teams in their own gym,” Leary added.

The victory brought UMaine’s record to 8-6 overall, and 8-1 in the North Atlantic Conference standings.

Husson, who’s leading scorer was Eric Modica with 17 points, fall to 5-10, with a 5-4 record in the NAC.

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