GORHAM, Maine   –  Senior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) scored a career-high 28 points to lead three players in double figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Rhode Island College Anchormen 89-76 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Hill Gymnasium.
 
Hawes was an outstanding 10-for-12 from the field, and had 10 rebounds and six assists for a double-double.  Freshman Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) had 15 points, two assists and two rebounds off of the bench, while senior Jason Lombard (Anchorage, Alaska/Chugiak) had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.  Junior Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) added nine points, three assists and three steals, while first years Mark Asare Jr. (Roswell, Ga.) and Joe Longoria (New Braunfels, Texas) had seven and nine points each, respectively.
 
Ousmane Kourouma led RIC with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Nathaniel Maldonado had 17 points, Anthony Rivera tossed in 14 points, and Kalu Uga had 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists for the Anchormen.
 
The Records:
Rhode Island College (6-12, 4-6 Little East)
Southern Maine (11-8, 5-5 Little East)
 
Series History:
Tonight's game marked the 142^nd meeting between the Anchormen and Huskies.  Rhode Island College leads the overall series 77-56.  RIC defeated the Huskies in Providence 78-67 in their first meeting of the 2022-2023 season.
 
 
How It Happened:

• In an one-point game, 23-22 in favor of the Huskies, after an offensive rebound and putback from Kourouma, Southern Maine used a 13-2 run to lead 36-24 with 5:10 left in the half.  Six different Huskies scored in the run, capped by a steal from Asare and a layup from Longoria. 
• RIC scored the next five points, including a traditional three-point play from Uga, but the Huskies closed out the half outscoring the Anchormen 17-2 to take a 53-31 lead at the half.  Colon scored eight of his 15 in the run, including a pair of threes. 
• RIC started the second half strong, and trimmed its deficit to 62-51 with 12:42 to play, outscoring USM 20-9 in that stretch.  Maldonado scored eight of the Anchormen's 20 points in the run.
• Both teams exchanged baskets over the next several possessions, and RIC trailed 71-60 with 8:37 to go, but the Huskies had a pivotal 8-0 run to go up 79-60 with 6:27 to play. Hawes had six of the Huskies' eight. 
• The Anchormen did not quit, however, and clawed their way back to make it a three-possession game, 83-74, with 2:14 to go, on a 14-4 spurt capped by a steal and a layup by Josef Buford.
• USM closed out the game outscoring RIC 6-2 in the final minutes for the 89-76 final.

 
Inside The Stats:

• USM shot 60.6 percent (20-for-33) from the field in the first half and finished the game shooting 59.3 percent (32-for-53).  The Huskies were 8-for-20 from three, led by two threes each by Hawes and Colon. 
• USM outscored RIC 40-32 in the paint, while the Huskies bench had a 31-9 lead.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies head to Castleton University on Saturday (3:00 pm) for a Little East Conference game.