Box Score NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Senior guard Alex Kee (Bath, Maine/Morse) scored a career-high 33 points as the University of Southern Maine Huskies withstood a furious late rally from the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs to skate away with an 82-78 win in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Tripp Athletic Center in North Dartmouth, Mass.
With the win, Southern Maine improves to 9-6 on the season and 4-1 in the Little East Conference. UMass Dartmouth falls to 2-11 overall and remains winless in conference action at 0-5. The Huskies are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the Little East with Rhode Island College and Eastern Connecticut.
Kee was lights out for the Huskies shooting 11-for-20 from the field, including a trio of three-pointers for his career-best 33 points. He added four rebounds and three steals to lead three USM players in double-figures. Junior guard Conor Sullivan (Scarborough, Maine) added 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, while junior James Odneal (Pontiac, Mich./Bottineau) added 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Sophomore guard Mike Rotando (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) led the Corsairs with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Sophomore center Alex Rodrigues (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) added 12 points and a team high nine rebounds and freshman guard Abi Akanni (Fitchburg, Mass.) tossed in 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Southern Maine comfortably led the Corsairs 49-36 at the half as Kee (13) and Sullivan (11) combined to score 24 points. The Huskies' made their move midway through the opening half to seize control of the game. Narrowly ahead 14-12 with 12:42 to play, USM grabbed a 12-point lead with a 15-5 run. Back-to-back three-pointer from junior guard Brandon Tomah (Princeton, Maine/Calais) sparked the Huskies, while Kee, Sullivan and senior guard Mike Poulin (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook) each contributed to the run for the 29-17 lead with 9:17 to play.
In the second half, the Huskies remained in control and led 17 points, 77-60, with 5:38 to play following a steal and a layup from Kee for his 28th points of the game. With the game seemingly under wraps, the Corsairs mounted a furious comeback effort over the next five minutes and thirty seconds to pull to within a basket of USM 80-78 on the heels of an 18-3 run. Four different players scored for the Corsairs in the comeback led by six points from Akanni and five points each from Rotando and junior guard John Genkos (Worcester, Mass.). It was Genkos' lone three of the game that had the Corsairs to within a basket of USM with eight seconds remaining and after a team timeout the Corsairs, forced to foul, put the red-hot Kee on the line for the Huskies. Kee calmly sank both free throws to maintain the Huskies fourth Little East Conference win of the season.
Southern Maine hosts UMass Boston on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.). UMass Dartmouth hosts Rhode Island College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.). Both games are Little East Conference tilts.
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