GORHAM, Maine –  Devin Cooper had a game-high 17 points and snagged 15 rebounds for a double-double to lead four players in double-figures as the Plymouth State University Panthers defeated the University of Southern Maine Huskies 83-64 in a men's basketball game Thursday night at Hill Gym. 
            The Panthers shot more than 50 percent from the field for the game to earn their first win of the season and improve to 1-2.  After opening their season with back-to-back wins, the Huskies have dropped their last two games to stand at 2-2.  Southern Maine plays at Colby on Sunday (3:00 pm) for its next contest.
            Cooper finished the game shooting 7-for-11 from the field for his game-high 17, while his 15 rebounds helped the Panthers to a 44-25 edge on the boards. Dante Rivera added 14 points on 4-fo4-9 shooting and passed off a game-high six assists, while chipping in with five rebounds.  Tom Johnson and Giorgi Tsiklauri had 12 and 10 points each. 
            Junior Jacobe Thomas (Houston, Texas/Davis) led USM with 16 points and eight rebounds, both team-high totals, and had three steals. Freshman Trevor Ward (West Park, Fla./McArthur) came off the bench for nine points, while sophomore Marcus Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) and freshman Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) each had eight points.  Christopher also snagged three steals for Southern Maine.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Panthers shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the field in the first half, led by seven points from Cooper and six each from Johnson, Rivera and Cody Graham, and took a 41-29 lead at the break.
• Up 10-7 over USM with just over five minutes off of the clock, the Panthers used a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to assume control of the game 24-11 with 8:35 to go.  USM responded with back-to-back buckets on a layup from senior Derek Haney (Auburn, Calif./Placer) and a three-pointer from Ward to cut it to 26-18 (7:03), but PSU answered back as Cooper and Rivera each scored four points as part of an 8-2 spurt to lead 34-20 and keept their team comfortably ahead until the half. 
• PSU started the second half zeroed in, opening with a 9-4 run to extend its lead to 50-33 (17:54) and the Huskies were unable to get closer than 15 points the rest of the way. 

 
INSIDE THE STATS:

• PSU shot 53.2 percent (33-for-62) from the field for the game.  USM shot 39.3 percent (24-for-61), but shot a much improved 44.4 percent (12-for-27) in the second half.
• Led by Cooper, PSU outscored the Huskies 42-28 in the paint. 
• USM scored 20 of its 64 points off of the Panthers 22 turnovers in the game.