GORHAM, Maine    –  Senior Clay Kuhn (Winter Park, Fla.) had 15 points to lead four players in double-digits as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans 84-60 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.
 
With the win, Southern Maine clinched a home playoff game and the fourth seed for the upcoming 2024 Little East Conference men's basketball championship.  Owning a 14-11 overall record, the Huskies are guaranteed a winning season, marking the first back-to-back winning campaigns for the program in more than 30 years.  The Huskies were 15-12 in 1991-1992 and 13-12 in 1992-93.  Under third-year head coach Rob Sanicola, the Huskies finished the 2022-23 season with a record of 16-10, and Southern. Maine is currently 14-11 heading into the tournament.
 
Kuhn was 6-for-6 from the field for his team-high 15 points.  Senior Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) added 12 points, going 3-for-5 from three, while senior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) and sophomore Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) each had 10 points.  Hawes recorded his second double-double of the season with a game-high 12 boards, and added five assists and three steals.
 
Scott Lampron led VTSU-Castleton with 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting, including five threes.  Joe Russell had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Will Radcliff tossed in seven points and six rebounds.
 
The Records:
VTSU Castleton (7-18, 3-13 Little East)
Southern Maine (14-11, 9-7 Little East)
 
Today's game marked the 34^th meeting between the Huskies and Spartans. Southern Maine leads the overall series 24-10, and earned a 66-64 win on the road earlier this season (January 13). 
 
 
How It Happened:

• Southern Maine led wire-to-wire scoring the first nine points of the game unanswered, highlighted by a traditional three-point play from Kuhn at 16:39.
• VTSU-Castleton's Lampron stopped the Husky run with a three following Kuhn's three-point play, but the Huskies went on to outscore the Spartans 12-4 over the next five minutes to triple up score to 21-7 with 11:04 in the half.
• VTSU-Castleton used a 10-3 run to half its deficit, 24-17, with 6:37 to go in the first led by five points from Justin Schwarzbeck and four from Radcliff, but USM outscored the Spartans 14-8 in the final minutes to take a solid 38-25 lead at the break. Dixon led the Huskies with nine first half points, followed by seven each from Kuhn and junior Junea Anicette (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips).
• The Spartans opened the second on a 9-2 run, including eight points from Russell, to pull within eight of Southern Maine 42-34 with 16:55 to go in the second.  However, Southern Maine responded with a 14-0 run over the next five and a half minute to balloon its lead to 56-34 (11:17).  Five different Huskies scored in the run led by five points from freshman Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine).
• After the 14-0 run, Castleton never got closer than 17 points the rest of the way, and the Huskies led by as many as 25 points, 78-53, after a transition dunk from freshman Ken Perry (Miami Gardens, Fla./Miami Carol City). 

 
Inside The Stats:

• Hawes has 949 points, 603 rebounds, 335 assists, and 129 steals in his 102-game career.
• Dixon's 12 points gives him 1141 points, 225 rebounds, 150 assists and 84 steals in his 83-game career. His 1141 points are currently 22^nd in USM career records. Dixon's has 207 threes in his career.  A career 37.4 shooter from three-point range (207-for-553), Dixon is second all-time in career threes.  Joe Cawley (1988-1992) is the record holder at 230. 
• Kuhn, playing in his 55^th career game, has 378 points, 157 rebounds, 79 assists, 35 steals, and 21 blocked shots.

 
Up Next:
Clinching the fourth seed with today's win, Southern Maine will host a quarterfinal game of the 2024 Little East Conference Men's Basketball Championship.  The Huskies will host No. 5 Rhode Island College on Tuesday, February 20 (7:30 pm).
-cac-