With the win, UMass Boston improves to 13-11 overall and 5-8 in the Little East.  Southern Maine dips to 5-19 with the loss and 2-11 in the conference.

            In an up and down first half, Southern Maine took a slim 36-34 lead into the halftime break. The Huskies shot 50.0 percent (15-for-30) from the field in the opening half and made 5-of-12 from three-points. The Huskies trailed by 10, 24-14, after a layup from UMB senior Steven McGuire (Rancho Cucamonga,Calif./Etiwanda).  Facing a double-digit deficit, Southern Maine outscored the Beacons 22-10 over the final eight minutes. Junior Alex Fraser (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) and sophomore Fred Knight (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) led the way for USM with six points each.

            The Huskies continued their strong play into the second half and extended their lead to 43-34 with seven unanswered points in the first two minutes, including back-to-back layup from junior Ben Jackson (Houston, Texas/Bellaire).  However, the Beacons fought back responding with an overwhelming 21-0 run to assume control. 

            Following USM's second straight layup from Jackson, the Beacons' freshman Fred Epps (Randolph, Mass.) caught fire scoring 12 of his teams next 21 points, including a pair of back-breaking three-pointers as the shot clock nearly expired. During the Beacons' stretch run, USM was 0-for-6 from the field with four turnovers. Southern Maine's Knight broke the Huskies' scoring drought with a jumper at the 12:10 mark to make it 55-45 in favor of the Beacons and the game settled into a back-and-forth contest with each team trading baskets. 

            Trailing 70-58 with 4:47 to play, USM trimmed its deficit to six points on with a 10-4 mini-run led by five points from junior Jacob Littlefield (Mechanic Falls, Maine/Poland Regional), but UMB answered right back with a jumper from Joseph and a layup from McGuire to return to a double-digit lead 78-68 with under two to play.  From there the Beacons outscored USM 11-4 down the stretch for the 89-72 final.

            Joseph finished with 25 points for the Beacons on 8-for-11 shooting, grabbing six boards.  Ulysse was 10-for-14 from the field with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists.  Epps finished with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting off of the bench, while junior Omar Benabicha (Saugas, Mass.) added 14 points, six assists and five rebounds.

            Knight led four Huskies in double figures with 14 points off of the bench, while Littlefield added 13 points and six rebounds.  Junior Jalen Lincoln (Nobleboro, Maine/Lincoln Academy) added 11 points and a career-high eight assists, while Fraser tossed in 11 points and had four assists.   

Southern Maine travels to Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) in a Little East Conference match-up.  It is the final regulars season for Southern Maine before heading into the LEC playoffs.

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