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GORHAM, Maine -- Senior forward Brandon Stephens (Dorchester, Mass./Newton North) scored a game-high 25 points on an outstanding 8-for-12 shooting performance to lead the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs to a 73-63 victory over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at the Warren Hill Gymnasium.
With the win, the Corsairs improve to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the Little East Conference. The Huskies fall to 8-5 and remain winless in the conference at 0-3.
Stephens led three Corsairs in double figures. Junior forward Colin Burns (Chepachet, R.I./Ponaganset) added 13 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Paul Rose (Boston, Mass./No. Cambridge Catholic) chipped in with 10 points off the bench. Junior center Justin Pulver (Plymouth, Mass./Falmouth) had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Southern Maine senior forward Otis Smith (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Ocoee) led the Huskies with 18 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Corteze Isaac (Germantown, Md./Northwest) added 11 points and four assists. Junior forward Sean Bergeron (Kennebunk, Maine) tossed in seven points, grabbed eight rebounds and had three steals.
With the score tied 28-28 with less than four minutes remaining in the first half, the Corsairs outscored the Huskies, 12-5, to take a 40-33 lead at the break. Five different players scored for the Corsairs in the run.
The Huskies countered with an 8-0 run to start the second half and take a 41-40 lead with 17:20 to play. Junior guard Mike Poulin (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook) scored four of his eight points in the run for the Huskies. Over the next three minutes both teams battled back and forth, trading baskets, with the Corsairs holding a 49-48 lead with 14:15 on the clock, The Corsairs then outscored the Huskies, 10-2, over the next four minutes to take a 59-50 lead with 10:29 to play.
The Huskies closed in to within six, 65-59, with 4:37 to play on a fall-away jumper from Isaac, but Stephens quickly answered with his fifth three-point field goal of the game to restore a nine-point, 68-59, cushion with 4:07 to play. The Huskies never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The Corsairs finished the game shooting 37.7 percent (23-for-61) from the field, but were a deadly 45.0 percent (9-for-20) from three-point range, led by a 5-for-7 performance from Stephens. The Huskies shot 35.4 percent (23-for-65) from the field.
Southern Maine hosts Rhode Island College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.). UMass Dartmouth travels to Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.).
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