BIDDEFORD, Maine – Junior Jacobe Thomas (Houston, Texas/Davis) and freshman Trevor Ward (West Park, Fla./McArthur) combined for 44 points, scoring 22 points each, and senior Derek Haney (Auburn, Calif./Placer) added 11 points as the University of Southern Maine Huskies men's basketball team rallied from a 49-41 halftime deficit to earn and 85-83 win over the University of New England Noreasters Saturday afternoon at Harold Alfond Gymnasium.

            Playing in its season-opening game, Southern Maine is now 1-0.  UNE is 0-1.  The Huskies are back in action against the Noreasters on Sunday (1:00 pm) at home.  USM will play again, on the road, at UMaine Farmington on Saturday, February 27 (1:00 pm).

            Thomas was 9-for-16 from the field, scoring 14 of his points in the first half, for his 22 points, adding seven rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.  In his Huskies' debut, Ward was 10-for-16 adding six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.  Ward scored 14 of his 22 in the second half.  Haney was 4-for-10, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, for his 11 points as the only other player in double-digits for the Huskies. Sophomore Marcus Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) led USM in rebounds with 10.  Christopher added eight points on 4-for-7 shooting.

            Avery DeBrito led four players in double-figures for UNE with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double.  Alex Kravchuk and Ryan Lin scored 15 and 13 points respectively, while Jordan Bagshaw tossed in 12 points.  Kravchuck and Lin each had six rebounds. 

            Trailing the Huskies 18-13 with 12:56 remaining in the first half, the Noreasters seized a 12-point lead 35-23 with 8:08 on the clock, using a 22-5 run over a five-minute span. Six different players scored in the UNE run led by 11 points from DeBrito.  The Noreasters led by as many as 15 points, 46-31, with 5:05 to play, before USM trimmed its deficit to eight, 49-41, to close out the half.  Outscoring UNE 10-3 in the final five minutes, Ward led the Huskies with four points.

            The Huskies continued to chip away at the UNE lead and tying the score at 53 just minutes into the second half on a three from Thomas before settling into a back-and-forth contest with no more than two possessions separating the two teams the rest of the game.

            A three from senior Keenan Hendricks (Owls Head, Maine/Oceanside) and a layup from Ward gave USM a slim 69-65 lead with 7:30 left.  The Huskies remained ahead of UNE until a three from Bagshaw tied the score at 81-81 with 3:03 to go. After a pair of missed possessions on both sides of the ball, a Haney defensive rebound led to a Ward fast-break bucket and an 83-81 Husky advantage with 1:25 to play. However, UNE's Debrito came up big again, scoring the equalizer on a jumper with just eight seconds to go before Ward went coast-to-coast for an 85-83 USM lead with one second to play. The Noreasters got off a last second shot before the buzzer but the ball hit the back of the rim and USM escaped with the win.