STANDISH, Maine  – Trailing by 20, 49-29, with 12:58 left in the game, the University of Southern Maine Huskies rallied to pull to within a possession of the St. Joseph's College Monks on a the heels of a 21-4 run over a nine-minute stretch but ultimately fell short 59-53 in a non-conference men's basketball game Sunday night.

With the win, St. Joseph's College improves to 2-2 on the season, snapping a two-game losing streak.  The Monks reclaim the Costello Cup from the Huskies with the victory.  The Costello Cup is presented annually to the winner of the contest between the two schools, which is named in honor of the late Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach.  The Monks victory is the 17^th in the 29-year series between the two schools.  Southern Maine suffers its fourth straight loss to stand at 1-4 on the season.

The Monks used a big first half outscoring the Huskies 34-17 and then held on for the win.  SJC shot 45.5 percent (15-for-33) in the opening half and was led by six points each from Darian Berry and Jae Johns.  Southern Maine fell behind shooting just 20.8 percent (5-for-24) while committing an uncharacteristic 11 first-half turnovers.

With the game seemingly in hand, SJC took its 20-point lead on a layup from Johns. Both teams exchanged baskets over the next two minute with Jack Casale making it 53-34 in favor of the Monks with 10:20 to play before USM rattled off 16 unanswered points to make it a one-possession game 53-50 with just over three minutes to play. Five different players scored in the run for the Huskies led by five points from junior Mark Borgeson (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Alta Loma).  

With its lead dwindling, the Monks called a full time out and after a minute of missed possessions on both sides of the ball before Ian Mileikis hit a jumper with 2:08 to play.  Borgeson responded by getting to the free throw line for two with 2:00 to play for a 55-52 game, but the Monks' Mario Nery canned a three on SJC's next possession to extend the lead to 58-52 with 1:34 to play.  From there, SJC was able to keep the Huskies' off of the scoreboard with the exception of a free throw to hold for the win.

USM senior Christian McCue (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) led USM with points on 4-for-5 shooting, knocking down a pair of threes.  Borgeson and freshman DJ Anderson (Houston, Texas/Davis) each had seven points, while Anderson added a team-high seven rebounds. 

Mileikis and Berry each had 11 points to pace SJC.  Berry added eight rebounds, while Mileikis had five assists.  Johns had 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 effort from the floor.

Southern Maine returns to action on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) when it hosts Bowdoin College in a non-conference game.

–cac–