GORHAM, Maine  –  Jaheim Young scored a game-high 22 points, including 14 in the second half, and snagged 14 rebounds for the double-double to lead the WestConn Wolves to a 69-56 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.
 
Young was 6-for-15 from the field and 8-for-10 from the tree throw line for his game-high total. Young's 14 rebounds helped the Wolves to a decisive 43-30 lead on the boards. Alfonso Stokes and Jeremiah Williams had 12 and 10 points respectively for the Wolves.  Stokes was 6-for-10 from the field, adding three assists, three steals and three rebounds. 
 
Southern Maine senior Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) led three Huskies in double-figures with 14 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.  Senior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) added 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while freshman Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine) added 10 points.  Freshman Justin Allen (Franklin, Mass.) added nine points off of the bench. 
. 
 
The Records:
Western Connecticut (12-2, 5-0 Little East)
Southern Maine (6-7, 2-3 Little East)
 
Today's game marked the 64^th meeting between the WestConn Wolves and the University of Southern Maine.  WestConn leads the overall series 46-18 after today's win.  The Huskies split the 2022-2023 series, earning a 91-84 overtime win against the Wolves at home on February 18.
 
How It Happened:

• After one of two free throws from Saunders on the Huskies' opening possession, the Wolves rattled off 10 unanswered points to race out to a 10-1 lead at 16:28.  Four different players scored for WestConn in the opening minutes.
• The Wolves stayed in front and led by 11, 15-4, with 13:30 to play in the half following an offensive rebound and putback from Young before the Huskies rallied to make it a two-possession game with a 7-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Hawes at 11:43.
• A layup from Williams pushed the WestConn lead back to six at the 11:10 mark, but Southern Maine used an 11-1 run over the next 2:30 to take its first lead of the game 22-18 with 8:49 to play in the half.  After Williams' layup, Husky sophomore Joe Longoria (New Braunfels, Texas) connected on three and was followed by back-to-back triples and a jumper from Dixon. 
• WestConn's Jourdan Belcher made it 22-20 at 8:27, but Allen canned the first of his three three-pointers in the game to give USM its largest lead of the game 25-20 with just over seven to play in the half.  The Wolves and Huskies went back-and-forth over the next few minutes, and Southern Maine led 27-24 before WestConn scored the final four points of the half on layups from Young and Stokes to take a narrow 28-27 lead at the break.
• A layup from Stokes and a three from Saunders had the game tied at 30-30 early in the second half before scoring took a break on both sides until two free throws from Belcher made it 32-30 with 15:24 to play.  A jumper from Dixon and a three from sophomore Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) bookended a layup from WestConn's Jaysean Morgan for a 35-34 Husky lead at 13:07, before the Wolves rattled off a pivotal 14-0 run spanning the next four and a half minutes for a 48-35 lead with 8:24 remaining.
• Young scored six of the Wolves' 14 points in the run.  The Wolves were 4-for-5 from the field during that stretch, and stole the ball five times.  The Huskies were 0-2 and turned the ball over six times.
• Southern Maine rallied, outscoring WestConn 13-6, over the next four-plus minutes to trail by six, 54-48, following a three from Allen at the 4:14 mark but were unable to get any closer the rest of the way.

 
 
Inside The Stats:

• Neither team had an outstanding shooting effort in the first half.  Southern Maine was 33.3 percent (8-for-24), while the Wolves shot 37.5 percent (12-for-32).  The Wolves turned it around in the second half shooting 13-for-26 from the field (50.0 percent).  The Huskies shot 34.5 percent (10-for-29).
• WestConn dominated the paint outscoring USM 30-6.  WestConn also scored 24 of its 69 points off of Southern Maine turnovers.  The Huskies turned the ball over 19 times in the game. WestConn committed 16 turnovers, but USM scored 10 points off of those miscues.

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine hosts  UMass Dartmouth on Thursday, January 11 (3:00 pm) in Little East Conference action. The Huskies are then on the road for their next two LEC games, traveling to VTSU-Castleton (January 13, 3:00 pm) and Plymouth State (January 17, 7:30 pm).