When a team shoots 50 percent from the field and scores 70 plus points in a game, they expect to win.
This wasn’t the case at Hill Gymnasium on Saturday, though. The USM men’s basketball team played well, but Western Connecticut played even better, as they shot 55.3 percent from the field and 61.5 percent (16-26) from three-point land en route to a commanding 111-78 win over the Huskies.
“They just couldn’t miss tonight,” USM Head Coach Karl Henrickson said. “They were penetrating and finding the open man and took advantage of their opportunities. They’ve done that to some pretty good teams this year.”
Western Connecticut, the number 16 team in Division III as of Jan. 16, used five double-figure performances — with three of them coming from starters — to upend a pesky USM team for their 15th win of the season.
USM got out to an early 8-4 lead as junior forward Jeremy Jackson (Laplace, LA) and senior guard Devin Chambers (Memphis, Tenn.) each scored four points in the opening two minutes. Junior forward Sean Bergeron (Kennebunk) and Jackson made layups to extend the Husky lead to 11-6 and then each scored again in a 4-0 run to make the score 15-12 with 13 minutes left in the half. USM held its lead until the 11:16 mark when Western Connecticut tied it at 17.
Over the next seven minutes, both teams would go back and forth, with USM tying the score three times while staying within three points of the Colonials, until Western went on two 7-0 runs that led to a 44-32 lead at halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Western wasted no time as junior forward Gary Robinson, senior forward Wilburt Jarrett and junior guard DaQuan Brooks each drained three-pointers. The Colonials sunk 12 of their 16 treys after the break and the Huskies didn’t make one.
In the first ten minutes of the second half, USM was able to score 24 points, but the Colonials made it tough as they scored at ease, draining 33 in the same amount of time. Western scored 15 straight points in a one minute and 36 second stretch to extend their lead to 92-65 with a little more than five and a half minutes to play. From that point, the Colonials didn’t let up as they notched off 19 points in the final five minutes en route to the 111-78 win.
Brooks, the reigning LEC player of the year, led the Colonials with 33 points on 11-19 shooting from the floor and 7-10 shooting from behind the arc, including a 5-7 effort from three land in the second half. Freshman guard Jengodji Gates added 14 points and went 4-5 from three-point range.
Although the Huskies were beaten by a large margin, there were several positives they can take away from this game. They shot 50 percent from the field and had four players in double figures, as Jackson led the way with 21 points. Bergeron added 17 points, senior guard Devin Chambers scored a career-high 14 points and had three blocks, and classmate Otis Smith scored 12 and pulled down eight rebounds.
Jackson in particular has come out of his shell and has become more aggressive on both the offensive and defensive ends.
“Jeremy’s gaining confidence and working very hard,” Henrickson said. “We’re making a concerted effort to get the ball to him on the inside.”
As far as trying to stop the Colonials’ dominant offense, Henrickson said he believes it was a matter of taking better care of the ball and cutting down on turnovers.
“They get you to play at a little quicker pace, and if you don’t take care of the ball they will take advantage of it,” Henrickson said. “There is a very small margin of error against a team like Western.”