GORHAM, Maine  – Trailing by 13 points with less than five minutes to play, the University of Southern Maine Huskies outscored the Rhode Island College Anchormen 19-4 in the final 4:28 to earn a critical 83-81 Little East Conference men's basketball win Wednesday night at Hill Gymnasium.
 
Junior Thomas Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) led all scorers with 26 points as the Huskies had four players in double-figures. Sophomore Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine) added 16 points, four assists and three steals, including two in the final five minutes, and junior Diego Colon (New Braunfels, Texas) added 15 points and four steals.  Graduate student Bryce Lausier (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) earned his 14^th double-double of the season with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists.
 
Ousmane Kourouma had a monster double-double with 25 points and 17 rebounds, while Xavier Mendez had 20 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Anchormen.  Deyshawn Tengbeh added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists as the third RIC player in double-figures.
 
 
The Records:
Rhode Island College (13-6, 8-2 Little East)
Southern Maine (8-11, 4-6 Little East)
 
 
Series History:  Today's game marked the 148^th meeting between the University of Southern Maine Huskies and the Rhode Island College Anchormen.  Rhode Island College leads the overall series 81-67.  Rhode Island College swept the 2023-2024 regular season series, and defeated Southern Maine 73-70 in the quarterfinals of the 2024 LEC Tournament. RIC earned an 84-80 win over the Huskies earlier this season. Southern Maine last defeated the Anchormen 89-76 on January 25, 2023.
 
 
 
How It Happened:

• The Anchormen led early and outscored the Huskies 15-3 in the opening 5:23 of the game led by seven points from Tengbeh. Shooting 7-for-9 from the field to start the game, RIC held Southern Maine to a 1-for-6 effort from the floor early, and forced four turnovers.
• After Kourouma's offensive rebounds and putback gave the Anchormen their 15-3 lead with 14:37 on the clock, Southern Maine cut its deficit to seven, 22-15, following a pair of free throws from Whelan at the 10:20 mark. Over the next minute, threes from Mendez and Jalen Claude sandwiched a jumper from Whelan, and RIC led by 11, 28-17.
• RIC stayed in front of the Huskies despite several pushes to again make it a three-possession game, and the Anchormen led by 10, 39-29, with 1:16 until the halftime break on another layup from Kourouma.  Whelan made it an eight point game, 39-31, with two free throws but Mendez connected on a layup for the final basket of the half and RIC took a 41-31 lead into the break.  Kourouma finished the first half with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Whelan had 14 points for USM.
• Saunders scored seven of the Huskies' first 14 points of the second half to help his team pull to within six of RIC, 51-45, with 15:23 to play.  However, RIC responded with a 13-5 run over the next 3:55 to lead by 14, 64-50. Kourouma scored 10 points in the run. But the Huskies bounced back with an 11-3 run to again make it a six-point game, 67-61 with 7:20 left in regulation.  Four players scored for USM in the run led by four points from Colon.
• With their team's lead shrank to two-possession, RIC's Kourouma, Mendez and Isaiah Dahl  combined for 10 points and a 10-4 run to push the lead back to double-digits 77-64 with 4:51 to play following a pair of free throws from Kourouma.
• USM used a quick five-point swing on two free throws from Lausier, one of two free throws from freshman Noah Hebert (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) and a layup from Saunders to trail by eight, 77-69, but Tengbeh pushed it back to 10 for RIC, 79-69, with 2:47 to go on a feed from Mendez.
• Facing a double-digit deficit, Whelan scored a traditional three-point play, and RIC turned the ball over on its next possession for a 79-72 game and a Husky ball with 2:15 showing on the clock.  Whelan again connected for a layup, making it a 79-74 score before Saunders came up with the first of two huge steals and fed a streaking Hebert for a dunk on the other end of the court for a 79-76 game with just under two minutes to play.
• RIC missed the front-end of a one-and one, and Lausier cleared the boards for USM before Whelan scored on a feed from Saunders making it a one-point game 79-78 in favor of RIC with 1:25 to play.  After another near miss from RIC, Saunders snagged the rebound, was fouled and sent to the line for an one-and-one opportunity.  Saunders calmy made both to give USM its first lead of the game 80-79 with 43 seconds left.
• RIC had two looks at the basket on its next possession thanks to an offensive rebound from Mendez, but Saunders again came up big defensively with a steal with 19 seconds to go.  Again sent to the line, Saunders hit two more free throws and the Huskies led 82-79. Tengbeh scored for the Anchormen on their next possession to make it an 82-81 game, and USM's Whelan was fouled bringing the ball up the court.  Making one of two, USM led 83-81.  The Anchormen had a strong look at the basket as time expired but Lausier worked for the defensive board and USM completed the comeback for the 83-81 win.

 
Inside The Stats:

• Southern Maine shot 45.6 percent (26-for-57) from the field and 34.5 percent (10-for-29) from three.  USM was 21-for-24 from the free throw line led by a 12-13 effort from Whelan. RIC shot 44 percent (33-for-75) from the field and 36 percent (9-for-25) from three. At the free throw line, the Anchormen were 6-for-16.
• Led by Kourouma and Mendez, RIC had a massive 50-31 edge on the boards, including a 25-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Kourouma had 14 offensive rebounds.  RIC scored 22 second chance points, compared to seven for USM.

 
 
Up Next:
Southern Maine hosts Eastern Connecticut on Saturday, February 1 (3:00 pm). The Huskies head to UMass Boston on Wednesday, February 5 (7:00 pm) before returning home against Wester Connecticut on Saturday, February 8 (2:00 pm). 
 
 
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