GORHAM, Maine  –  Six players scored at least eight points as the University of Southern  Maine Huskies used a balanced offensive effort to defeat the Castleton University Spartans 73-55 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Friday night at Hill Gymnasium.
 
Sophomore Trevor Ward (West Park, Fla./McArthur) and junior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) led USM with 13 and 12 points respectively as the Huskies shot 60 percent (27-for-45) from the field, including a blistering 73.9 percent (17-for-23) in the second half.
 
The Records: 
Castleton University (5-13, 0-9 Little East)
Southern Maine (8-9, 3-5 Little East)
 
Series History:  Today's game marks the 28^th meeting between the Huskies and the Spartans.  USM won the first game of the 2021-2022 series at Castleton 73-69 (December 12) and earns the season sweep with tonight's victory.  The Huskies lead the overall series 18-10.
 
Standout Huskies:  Cody Hawes 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists; Trevor Ward 13 points 4 rebounds; sophomore Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) 9 points; junior Marcus Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) 8 points, 6 rebounds; senior Jason Lombard (Anchorage, Alaska/Chugiak) 6 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot.  
 
Standout Spartans: Sophomore Justin Schwarzbeck (Newburgh, N.Y.) 12 points, 7 rebounds; sophomore Darrell Hardge (Miami, Fla./Fort Lauderdale) 11 points; Graduate student Oluwadare Sowunmi (Harlem, N.Y.) 8 points.
 
How It Happened: 

•  Trailing by three, 15-12, with 10:22 remaining in the opening half after a layup from Castleton's Schwarzbeck, Southern Maine outscored the Spartans 18-9 in the final 10 minutes to take a 30-24 lead into the half.
• Christopher and sophomore Simon Chadbourne (Westbrook, Maine) each had six points in the first half to lead USM, while Dixon and Hawes had five each.
• USM opened the second half with an 11-5 run in the first five minutes to double its lead to 41-29 with 15:01 to go. Four different Huskies scored in the run, led by four points from Hawes and a punctuation three from sophomore guard Clay Kuhn (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park).
• The Huskies remained comfortably in front of the Spartans for the remainder of the second half.  CU cut its deficit to 11, 55-44, with 5:39 to play on a layup from Hardge, but USM put together a 12-5 run over the next three minutes to open its largest lead of the game, 67-49, with 2:43 to go.
• Hardge hit back-to-back threes for the Spartans in the closing minutes, but USM converted its free throws and had buckets in the paint from Hawes and Ward for the 73-55 final.

 
Inside the Stats: 

• All nine Huskies who saw playing time scored at least three points. 
• Southern Maine's 60 percent (27-for-45) effort from the field is a season-best.  Lombard, Christopher and freshman Michael Connolly (Westbrook, Maine) were all perfect from the field. Lombard and Christopher were 3-for-3 while Connolly was 2-for-2.  Hawes finished the game 5-for-6. 
• USM outscored Castleton 38-26 in the paint, while the Spartans had 14 second chance points compared to four for USM.

 
Up Next: 
Southern Maine hosts Western Connecticut (4:00 pm) on Monday in Little East Conference action.   
 
 Southern Maine Athletics has gone to fully digital game programs, please click this link to access the game programs to future Husky home events!