After losing a heartbreaker to UMass Boston on a last second 3-pointer on Jan. 25, the USM men’s basketball team’s luck ran short again on Saturday as they were downed by some late heroics, losing 72-67 to Keene State in Gorham.
Sophomore point guard Ryan Martin (Wayne) hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining and as time expired on the shot clock to put the Owls up five, and the Huskies out of reach.
With the loss, USM drops to 1-8 in the Little East and 9-10 overall.
The contest was even for the majority of the first half as each team scored back and forth, tying the game eight times and earning six leads apiece.
After being down seven at one point — 24-17 —with eight and half minutes to go, Huskies’ junior captain Mike Poulin (Readfield) and freshman Conor Sullivan (Scarborough) made two foul shots each, and senior guard Devin Chambers (Memphis, Tenn.) completed a 3-point play to tie the score at 24 with 6:45 left in the half.
Chambers then rattled off six points over the next two minutes, and Poulin drained two more free throws and a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to give the Huskies a 37-34 lead at the half.
Coming out of the locker room, the Huskies continued to keep their lead as senior Otis Smith (Altamonte Springs, FL) got fouled and made two quick free throws, while junior Jeremy Jackson (Laplace, LA) sunk a jumper to make the score 41-38.
The Owls would fight back over the next five minutes to take a 52-50 lead, as Martin made a layup and drained a 3-pointer, senior Ollie Hunter scored four points, and Keene took advantage of free throw opportunities.
Following a two minute scoring drought on both sides, the Huskies scored eight points over the next two and a half minutes to regain the lead, 58-52 with nine minutes to play.
With the scored tied at 61, Hunter got hot and scored eight straight points for the Owls, giving them a 67-63 lead. Jackson then made a quick layup to cut the Keene lead to two. Two possessions later, confusion broke out after a questionable out of bounds call that landed in the favor of Keene with 20 seconds left and two seconds remaining on the shot clock. This set up Martin’s 3-pointer after a Keene timeout, and at that point it was too late for the Huskies as they were forced to foul.
Martin — who was Poulin’s teammate on two state championship teams at Maranacook High School — scored 13 in the game.
Hunter finished with a game-high 17 points, and Keene sophomore Nicco DeMasco pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and scored eight points.
Chambers led the way for the Huskies as he scored 15 and dished out a game-high four assists, Smith added 12 points, and Poulin and junior Chris Pagentine (Lexington, NC) chipped in with 11 points each.