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            GORHAM, Maine -- Senior guard Ian Dempsey (Andover, Mass.) scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Plymouth State University Panthers to a 75-64 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Tuesday night at the Warren Hill Gymnasium.

            With the win, Plymouth State snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 10-11 overall and 4-7 in the Little East.  Suffering its eighth loss in as many games, Southern Maine fell to 9-13 and 1-10 in the conference.

            Dempsey was 6-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, to lead three Panthers in double figures.  Senior forward Tom Dowd (Portsmouth, N.H.) added 16 points and four rebounds and junior forward Jesse Sabolis (Stoughton, Mass.) chipped in with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting coming off the bench.

            USM senior guard Devin Chambers (Memphis, Tenn./Oak Hill Academy) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points on a 10-of-19 effort from the field.  Chambers also had four steals.  Senior guard Otis Smith (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Ocoee) tossed in 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three steals. 

            Trailing by a point, 53-52, with 8:50 left in the game, the Panthers went on an 18-4 run to grab a 13-point lead, 70-57, with 3:33 remaining to snatch the game away from the Huskies.  Four different players scored in the pivotal run for the Panthers, led by five points from Sabolis and six points from junior guard Brian Chergey (Portsmouth, N.H.). 

            Southern Maine was able to get within eight of PSU on a three pointer from sophomore guard Alex Kee (Bath, Maine/Morse) and a jumper from Chambers, but Plymouth State held for the win thanks in part to timely baskets from Sabolis and Dowd in the final two minutes.

            Both teams are back in action on Saturday (3:00 p.m.).  Southern Maine travels to Rhode Island College and Plymouth State travels to the University of Massachusetts Boston.

-cac-