GORHAM, Maine --  Sophomore Chris Green (Taunton, Mass.) was 7-for-18 from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point territory en route to a team-high 18 points as the seventh-seeded Rhode Island College Anchormen defeated the second-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies 64-63 in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Little East Conference Championship Tournament Tuesday night at Fifield Court. 

            With the win, Rhode Island College advances to the semifinal round of the conference tourney and improves to 6-20 on the season.  The Huskies conclude their season with a record of 15-11.  RIC will face third-seeded Keene State on Friday (tba).

            Trailing the Huskies 62-58 with 4:59 to play in regulation, sophomore Malcolm Smith (Old Orchard Beach, Maine/St. Andrews) hit back-to-back threes to put RIC ahead 64-62 with 2:30 to play.  After missed possessions on both sides of the ball, Southern Maine had a chance to tie game with eight seconds remaining after junior Atencio Martin (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) was fouled while snagging a defensive board.  Martin hit one of two free throws to make the score 64-63.  Forced to foul, USM put RIC on the line and was able to secure another possession after a missed free throw from the Anchormen freshman Justin Campbell (New Haven, Conn./Hill Regional).  The Huskies had a look at the basket to get the win, but were unable to connect.

            Green led four players in double-figures for RIC, adding four rebounds and three assists.  Freshman Jimmy Fritzson (Sharon, Mass./Vermont Academy) added 14 points and five rebounds on 5-for-11 shooting, while Campbell tossed in 13 points.  Smith tallied 12 points off of the bench, including 11 in the second half, adding a team-high seven rebounds.

            Junior Zach Leal (York, Maine) paced the Huskies with 18 points and six rebounds.  Senior Jose Nouchanthavong (Westbrook, Maine) had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, and classmate Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) added 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots. Martin finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, while senior Aaron Toman (Gardiner, Maine) chipped in with seven points off of the bench.

            The Huskies got off to a hot start scoring the first nine points of the game and led by 10, 16-6, with 13:46 to play on a three from Leal, before RIC rallied back into the game with an 11-3 run to trail 19-17 with 10:21 to play.  Four different players scored in the run for RIC led by four points from freshman Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass./Brighton). 

            Southern Maine answered RIC's push with an 8-2 spurt to get back to a three possession led, 27-19, with 8:01 to play capped by a three from Libby.  However, the Anchormen were able to outscore USM 18-4 to close out the half to take a 37-31 lead at the break. Green scored six of his 18 points in the run.

            The Huskies opened the second half on an 8-0 run, including back-to-back threes from Martin and Leal, to retake the lead 39-37 with 16:43 on the clock and the game settled into a back-and-forth contest.  The Huskies remained in front of RIC for a majority of the half but could never increase its lead to more than six points before Smith's heroics delivered the win for RIC.

-cac-