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Noah Dowling Layup
Nate Devine, Athletic Comms Student Intern
Noah Dowling
72
WestConn WESTCONN 3-4, 0-2
76
Winner Southern Me. SOUTHERN 4-5, 1-1
WestConn WESTCONN
3-4, 0-2
72
Final
76
Southern Me. SOUTHERN
4-5, 1-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
WestConn WESTCONN 39 33 72
Southern Me. SOUTHERN 32 44 76

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

Huskies’ Battle Back and Defeat WestConn 76-72

Noah Dowling Scored 12 of his 15 in Second Half Comeback


GORHAM, Maine   -  Senior Thomas Whelan (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) scored a game-high 29 points to lead three players in double-figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies overcame a 12-point second half deficit to defeat the WestConn Wolves 76-72 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.
 
Whelan was 11-for-19 from the field, adding six rebounds and four assists.  Sophomore Noah Dowling (North Narrbeen, Australia/Saint Augustine's) had 15 points, 12 in the second half, seven rebounds and three assists while knocking down 4-of-6 from three.  Graduate student Andrew Hartel (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Kimball Union) added a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. 
 
Jaysean Morgan led the Wolves off the bench with 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.  Tayejon Lynch and Marcel Henry  each had 12 points, while Jahlyl Morgan added seven points, seven assists, and two steals,
 
The Records:
WestConn (3-4, 0-2 LEC)
Southern Maine (4-5, 1-1 LEC)
 
Today's contest marked the 67th meeting between the WestConn Wolves and the University of Southern Maine.  WestConn leads the overall series 48-19.  The Wolves had won the last three consecutively, sweeping Southern Maine 79-73 in Gorham, and 76-74 in Connecticut. Prior to today's win, the Huskies last defeated the Wolves, 91-84, on February 18, 2023 at Hill Gymnasium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
  • In a back-and-forth first half, both teams were square at 20 following a layup from Whelan with 10:40 remaining in the first half. However, the Wolves' Morgan, Lynch and Henry each scored layups for a six-point swing and a 26-20 WestConn lead.
  • Hartel brought USM to within a possession, 26-24 (7:07), with two free throws, but the Wolves used an 11-2 run over a five-minute span to grow their lead to 11 with 2:29 until the break.  Morgan's three gave the Wolves the 37-26 lead.  USM closed the half up 6-2 on the Wolves, but trailed by seven, 39-32. 
  • Southern Maine won the first five minutes of the second half, outscoring WestConn 10-2 to snag a slim 42-41 lead with 15:25 to play led by six points from Whelan. But, the Wolves responded with a 17-4 run to snag their largest lead of the game, 58-46, with 9:24 remaining. Jaysean Morgan was unstoppable for the Wolves in the run, scoring nine of his team's next points, while Jahlyl Morgan netted the two free throws for the 12-point lead.
  • After the Wolves' run, Dowling took over for the Huskies connecting on back-to-back threes to bring USM right back into the game and igniting a 13-2 run.  Making one of two free throws at the 5:56 mark, Dowling had USM within a point, 60-59.
  • Going back-and-forth, WestConn clung to its lead, 62-59, after a pair of free throws from Elijah Guillame at the 4:36 mark, but USM's Whelan scored five straight, including a traditional three-point play to give USM a 64-62. WestConn's Jaysean Morgan tied the game up at 64 with a layup, but Dowling hit a three, sophomore Evans Sterling (New Sharon, Maine/Mt. Blue) and Hartel combined for seven unanswered and a 71-64 lead with 1:24 to play.
  • Facing a three-possession deficit and less than 90 seconds to play, WestConn responded with a Jaysean Morgan three, and then a steal and an assist from Nicholas Moore to find Jaysean Morgan again for a five-point swing and a two-point game, 71-69, with 41 second left.
  • Despite the 5-0 run against them, the Huskies battled to win the game and closed it out on the line before Dowling's game-sealing layup to close the game, 76-72.
 
Inside The Statistics:
  • Southern Maine outscored the Wolves 44-33 in the second half led by Dowling's 12-point, 5-rebound, 2-assists second-half performance.  The Huskies shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) in the second half, and were 3-for-7 from three. 
  • WestConn scored 26 of its 72 points off of the Huskies' 19 turnovers. 
 
 
Up Next:
The Huskies final home game of 2025 is on Wednesday, December 10 (7:30 pm) in a non-conference match-up with UMaine Farmington. Southern Maine closes out 2025 on the road at Maine Maritime Academy on Tuesday, December 30 (2:00 pm).
           
 
-cac-
 
 
 
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