WILLAMANTIC, Conn.   –  Seniors Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) and Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) combined for 47 points to lead the University of Southern. Maine Huskies to a 77-62 win over the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Geisler Gymnasium. 
 
Dixon shot 9-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from three for a game-high 24 points, adding three rebounds, and two assists. Hawes was 8-for-11 from the floor, adding five assists, two steals and three rebounds.  Sophomore Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) added 13 points (6-for-9 FG) and a game-high five rebounds. 
 
Jalen Hamblin led ECSU with 24 points on 11-for-13 shooting. Hamblin was the only Warrior in double-figures scoring.  Jeremiah Graham and Ty Calloway each had eight points.
 
The Records:
Southern Maine (10-9, 6-5 Little East)
Eastern Connecticut State University (4-16, 1-10 Little East)
 
Today's game marked the 89^th meeting between the University of Southern Maine and the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors. ECSU leads the overall series 56-33; however, Southern Maine claimed the December 9 meeting by the score of 81-59. It is the first time since the 2007-2008 season that the Huskies have swept the Warriors in regular-season play.
 
How It Happened:

• The Warriors scored the first four points of the game and led the Huskies 20-18 following a layup from Amarre Spence midway through the opening half (9:08).  However, Spence's bucket was the last for the Warriors over the next 6:11 as the Huskies surged ahead with a 17-0 run to lead 35-20 with just under three minutes until the half.  The Huskies were a perfect 6-for-6 during the run led by five points from Hawes, and four a piece from Whelan and Dixon. 
• Dominick Dao halted the Southern Maine run with a three for a 35-23 game, but the Huskies closed out the half outscoring ECSU 7-4 to lead 42-27 at the halftime break. Shooting 9-for-9 from the field in the final 8:32 of the half after trailing 20-18, the Huskies finished the first half with a blistering 83.3 field goal percentage (15-for-18), including a 7-for-8 mark from three. 
• Dixon canned a three to open extending USM's lead to 45-27 on the first play of the second half, and both teams traded baskets in the first five minutes with the Huskies up by 15, 51-36, with 14:55 to go. Back-to-back jumpers from Dixon and a three from Hawes had the Huskies up by 22, 58-36, with 12:48 on the clock.  Despite a 6-0 run from the Warriors after Hawes' three, ECSU continued to trail the Huskies by a wide margin and were looking at a 63-42 score with under nine to go following another bucket from Hawes.
• Trailing by 21, the Warriors fought their way back into the game to trail by three possessions, 68-60, with 2:17 on the clock.  Outscoring the Huskies 18-5 over six minute span, the Warriors went 6-for-8 from the field (2-for-2 from three) and were led by Calloway, who scored all of his eight points in the run.  Calloway's layup at 8:09 started a string of 10 unanswered points, while a traditional three-point play from Hamblin made it an eight point game. 
• After seeing its double-digit lead erased, Southern Maine got two free throws from Hawes and a three from freshman Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine) to lead 73-60 with 1:36 to play. Hamblin stopped the mini-run from USM with a jumper but Hawes responded with a layup as USM outscored the Warriors 4-0 in the final moments for the 77-62 final.

 
Inside The Stats:

• Southern Maine finished the game shooting a red-hot 70.0 percent (28-for-40) from the field, and 68.8 percent from three (11-for-16).  ECSU also shot well, making 26-for-54 from the floor (48.1 percent), but were just 4-for-18 from three. 
• Southern Maine won the rebounding statistic snagging 22 to ECSU's 17. 
• Hawes' 23 points puts him at 898 points in his career. Averaging  a career-best 12.41 points per game this season, Hawes has 898 points, 564 rebounds, 309 assists and 116 steals in 97 career games

 
 
Up Next:
The Huskies return home on Wednesday, January 31 (7:30 pm) against UMass Boston.  Southern Maine is on the road for its next two contests at Western Connecticut on Saturday, February 3 (3:00 pm) and at UMass Dartmouth on Saturday, February 10 (3:00 pm). 
-cac-