WATERVILLE, Maine - Junior
Evans Sterling (New Sharon, Maine/Mount Blue) scored a game and career-high 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting with five rebounds and four assists to lead three players in double-figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Thomas College Terriers 83-58 in a non-conference men's basketball season-opener at Mahaney Gym.
Junior
Noah Dowling (North Narrabeen, Australia/Saint Augustine's) filled the stat sheet with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots, while freshman
Seann Katubi (Rutland, Mass./New York Miltary Academy) had a solid collegiate debut with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists.
Jayden Desimone led the Terriers with 22 points, hitting five threes. Three other Terriers scored six points highlighted by Isiah Corson's 3-for-6 field effort with four rebounds, and a blocked shot.
The Records:
Southern Maine (1-0)
Thomas College (0-1)
Today's game marked the 43rd meeting in the all-time series between Southern Maine and Thomas College and the first meeting since November 2022. The Huskies lead the Terriers 37-6 in the series. USM won the most recent contest 99-51 at Hill Gym. The Terriers earned an 82-80 win in November of 2021 in Waterville.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Thomas scored the first 11 points of the contest capped by a thre from Payton Mitchell at the 17:56 mark before the Huskies used a 17-4 run over the next six minutes to pull ahead 17-15 on a layup from Katubi. The Terriers pulled to within one on a free throw, but USM rattled off eight straight to surge ahead 25-16. Sterling scored four of USM's points in the run.
- Desimone broke up the run with a three for a 25-19 game with 7:34 left in the first half, Southern Maine nearly doubled-up the Terriers 21-12 down the stretch for a 46-31 halftime lead. Dowling had six points in the run, while sophomore Carter Galley (Owl's Head, Maine/Oceanside) had five as the Huskies shot 8-for-15 from the field (3-for-5 from three) in the last seven and a half minutes of the first.
- Desimone scored the first four points of the second half for the Terriers to ignite a 10-5 spurt for Thomas to make it a 10-point game. Desimone scored his 20th point of the game at the 16:47 mark of the second half to make it a 51-41 game.
- The Huskies closed the door on the game, however, responding with a 20-2 run over the next 6:23 to balloon their lead to 71-43 with 10:42 remaining. Shooting 8-for-13 from the field in the run, seven different Huskies figured in the scoring led by seven from Sterling. From there, USM led by as many as 32 points, 81-49, on a layup from Katubi with 3:49 to play before the 83-58 finall
Inside The Statistics:
- Southern Maine shot 42.7 percent (32-for-75) from the field and 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from three. Thomas shot 33.3 percent (20-for-60), but matched USM with eight threes.
- The Huskies led 49-40 in rebounds, including 18-14 in offensive boards, scoring 13 second chance points.
- Southern Maine outscored Thomas 48-22 in the paint.
Up Next:
Southern Maine remains on the road at the University of New England on Wednesday, November 11 (7:30 pm) before hosting UMaine Presque Isle on Saturday, November 14 (3:00 pm).
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