Box Score PLYMOUTH, N.H. – With his team clinging to a 51-50 lead with 48 seconds remaining in regulation, Jack Preston grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the put back to help lead the Plymouth State University Panthers to a 56-50 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Tuesday night.
With the win, Plymouth State halts a three-game slide and improves to 6-10 while earning its first conference victory of the season to stand at 1-5. Southern Maine is now 3-13 with the loss and 0-6 in the Litlte East.
Preston was one of three Panthers in double figures finishing 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field while adding a team-high nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Curtis Arsenault led PSU with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting and seven rebounds, while Ernie Johnson tossed in 12 points.
Southern Maine junior Jacob Littlefield (Mechanic Falls, Maine/Poland Regional) paced the Huskies with 14 points. Junior Sean Caddigan (Bethel, Maine/Telstar) added 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the field, including a trio of three-pointers. Junior Alex Fraser (Portland, Maine) tossed in nine points off of the bench.
Southern Maine trailed PSU 17-10 midway through the half, but fought its way back into the game with a 7-1 run to trail 18-17 with 8:19 left in the opening stanza. Littlefield keyed the run with a jumper, which was followed by a three from classmate Jalen Lincoln (Nobleboro, Maine/Lincoln Academy) and closed out by a layup from sophomore Fred Knight (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy).
With USM back in the contest both teams battled back and forth, but the Panthers never relinquished their lead. Southern Maine pulled to within a possession of PSU on a three from Caddigan with 4:10 to play, but Panthers closed out the half outscoring the Huskies 7-4 for a 33-27 lead at the break.
PSU quickly scored the first four points of the second half thanks to back-to-back layups from Preston and the Panthers maintained a comfortable lead over the next several minutes. PSU led 41-31 with 13:51 to play after a layup from Johnson before USM rattled off a 10-2 run to make it a one-possession 43-41 Panther lead with 9:22 to go. Caddigan started the run hitting a three, before Littlefield scored the next seven points on a three-pointer, a layup and two free throws.
Unable to surge ahead, USM stayed with the Panthers, never trailing by more than three points over the next five minutes. Littlefield made it a one-point game, 47-46, with 4:11 to play, but Preston answered with two free throws. The Huskies would again make it a one point game as Fraser finished an assist from junior Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and then sank one of two free throws after a defensive rebound with just over a minute to play, but the Panthers kept answering.
Huskies' sophomore Zach Leal (York, Maine) blocked a Panther shot, but Preston was their for the offensive board and the put back make it 53-50 in favor of PSU with 48 seconds to play. After an USM turnover, the Huskies were forced to foul and Johnson sank two free throws for a 55-50 lead with 29 seconds effectively sealing the win.
Southern Maine remains in Little East Conference action on Saturday (3:00 p.m.) when it hosts to Western Connecticut. Plymouth State travels to UMass Dartmouth on Saturday (3:00 p.m.) for an LEC match-up.
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