BOSTON   –  Senior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) and junior Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) each scored 14 points, and freshman Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) added 12 points in a balanced team effort to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 76-60 road win over the UMass Boston Beacons in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at the Clark Athletic Center.
 
With the win, the Huskies remain in the top four of the Little East Conference and in contention for a home playoff berth.  The top six teams earn a spot in the LEC playoffs with the top two seeds earning a quarterfinal bye.  The tournament begins on Tuesday, February 21.
 
 
The Records:
Southern Maine (15-9, 9-6 Little East)
UMass Boston (15-9, 8-7 Little East).
 
Series History:
Meeting for the 111th time in series history, Southern Maine leads the Beacons 66-46 all-time.  UMass Boston had won the last three consecutively, however, including a 66-60 win earlier this season in Gorham on January 18. This the first win for the Huskies over UMass Boston since an 80-78 win on January 29, 2020.
 
How It Happened:

• After falling behind early, 5-0, Southern Maine played catch up and took the lead 8-7 a the 15:34 mark on a bucket from Hawes, and then both teams settled into a back-and-forth contest. UMass Boston led 15-13 at the 10:13 mark on a three from Mariano Rodriguez, but Husky freshman Joe Longoria (New Braunfels, Texas) responded with a three of his own to give Southern Maine the lead for good 16-15 at the 9:41 mark.
• Longoria's three ignited the Huskies' offense which went on to outscore the Beacons 21-8 to close out the half and take a 34-23 lead into the break.  Dixon had 10 of those points as USM was 8-for-13 from the field in the final 9:34 of the first, including a 4-for-5 mark from three. 
• USM continued its scoring to start the second half, opening with a 7-2 run in the first minute of play to lead 41-25.  USM was 3-for-3 in that stretch, including a traditional three-point play from senior Jason Lombard (Anchorage, Alaska/Chugiak).
• With the Huskies' comfortably in front by double-digits, the Beacons' Bobby Joy hit a three to trail 51-37 at the 13:03 mark only to have Southern Maine extend its lead to 22, 60-38, on a 9-1 run led by five points from Colon and buckets from Longoria and freshman Tommy Whelan (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep).
• The Huskies led by as many as 25 points late in the second half, 76-51, with 2:04 to play on a layup from Longoria before the Beacons scored the final nine points of the game for the 76-60 final.

 
Inside The Stats:

• USM scored 40 of its 76 points in the paint, including 30 of those points in the second half. 
• Southern Maine shot a red-hot 17-for-25 in the second half for a mark of 68.0 percent.
• Seven players scored at least seven points for the Huskies. 

 
Up Next:
The Huskies close out the regular season on Saturday (3:00 pm) against Little East Conference opponent Western Connecticut State.