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THOMAS WHELAN VS. UNE LAYUP
James Liebowitz
83
Winner Southern Me. USM 3-0,0-0 Little East
70
Nichols NC 1-2,0-0 CNE
Winner
Southern Me. USM
3-0,0-0 Little East
83
Final
70
Nichols NC
1-2,0-0 CNE
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Me. USM 32 51 83
Nichols NC 42 28 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Christina Cracolici, Director of Athletic Communications

Big Second Half Pushes Southern Maine Past Nichols 83-70

 DUDLEY, Mass.  –   Junior Thomas Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the second half as the University of Southern Maine Huskies rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to earn an 83-70 win over the Nichols College Bison in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Nichols Athletic Center.
 
Whelan was 10-for-20 from the field for his 27 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Graduate student Bryce Lausier (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) had his second double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and junior Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) added 16 points to pace Southern Maine.
 
Five players reached double figures for Nichols led by 17 points from Javen Flowers-Smith.  Simon Percy had 14 points, and Dominic Mello added 13.  Ryan Savoy and Olivier St. Louis had 11 and 10 respectively.
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The Records:
Southern Maine (3-0)
Nichols College (1-2)
 
Today's game just the third meeting between the Nichols College Bison and the University of Southern Maine Huskies.  Nichols won the first contest, 86-71, on January 2, 2018 in Dudley, Mass., and took a 76-74 win on December 29, 2023. Southern Maine's win today is the first in the series.
 
 
How It Happened:
  • Despite the Biston scoring the first four points of the game on back-to-back layups from Percy and Flowers-Smith, the Bison and Huskies battled back and forth for the majority of the opening half.  Whelan gave USM a slim 19-17 lead with 10:29 to go in the opening stanza but it was the last lead of the half for Southern Maine.
  • After Whelan's bucket, Nichols' Percy hit a three for a 20-19 advantage with just under 10 on the clock.  Both teams again settled into a back-and-forth affair with the Bison remaining on top.
  • USM's Stephen Gabriell III (Brockton, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made it a one-point game, 30-29, with 5:53 until halftime before Nichols used a half-closing 13-3 run to led 42-32 at the break. Four different Bison scored in the run, led by four points from Percy.
  • Whelan hit a three to start the second half and the Huskies continued to nip at the Bison's heels. Colon's free throw at 14:49 made it a two-point deficit, 48-46, for the Huskies, but Nichols answered with a Savoy three and a layup from Flowers-Smith to push the lead back to seven, 53-46, with 12:57 to go.
  • USM continued to chip away, and trailed by one, 53-52, on a bucket in the paint from Lausier with 10:50 to go.  Savoy again answered for Nichols with a jumper to make it a 55-52 game.  However, Southern Maine finally got the run it needed with back-to-back threes from sophomores Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine) and Justin Allen (Franklin, Mass.) to take its first lead since the 10:29 mark of the first half. 58-55, with 9:59 to play.
  • Nichols stayed within a possession of the Huskies and tied the game up at 62 on a jumper from Flowers-Smith with just over seven minutes remaining. After Flowers-Smith's jumper, the Bison outscored USM 6-4 over the next three and a half minutes to lead 68-66 on a fast-break layup from St. Louis. But it was the last lead of the game for the Bison as USM went on an 8-0 run to seize the game with a 74-68 lead capped by a layup from Lausier.
  • Mello ended the Husky run for the Bison with two free throws to make it 74-70 with 1:51 to play, but USM closed it out scoring the final nine points of the game for the 83-70 final.
 
Inside The Stats:
  • Southern Maine shot 51.4 percent (18-for-35) in the second half to outscore Nichols 51-28. Conversely, Nichols shot just 35.4 percent (11-for-31) in the second half.
  • Led by Lausier's 12 boards, Southern Maine led the Bison 38-32 on the glass.
  • USM scored 20 points off of Nichols' 15 turnovers.  The Huskies committed 14 turnovers.
Up Next:
Southern Maine is on the road and will face UMaine Farmington on Wednesday (7:00 pm). The Huskies will host Bates College on Tuesday, November 26 (7:30 pm) for its next home contest before hitting the road for their next two games at Saint Joseph's College on Sunday, December 1 (7:30 pm) and at Eastern Connecticut State on Wednesday, December 4 (7:00 pm).
 
-cac-
 
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