FARMINGTON – Junior center Dylan Griffin (Saco, Maine) drained four free throws in the final 3.6 seconds of gametime, helping give the Beavers a lead and seal the victory on Tuesday evening over Maine Maritime Academy, 71-68 in an important North Atlantic Conference (NAC) contest in Dearborn Gymnasium.
The Mariners controlled the game for the majority of the 1st half, leading by as much as 12 points in the first 20 minutes. After a Griffin layup on the opening possession, the Beavers trailed for the next 30 minutes of the game.
Mariners center Curt Heinz was a mismatch nightmare in the opening half, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds while also being the central hub of the Mariners’ offense.
The Mariners clung to a 25-13 lead with 7:25 left to play in the opening half after a Josiah Dancy pull up jumper, forcing The Beavers to change their defensive scheme. The Beavers transitioned into a zone defense in the final minutes of the 1st half and it completely changed the complexion of the ballgame. The zone threw a wrench into the flow of the Mariners offense. Farmington forced nine 1st half turnovers, and turned those nine turnovers into seven points on the other end, including a Jordan Anthony (Farmington, Conn.) dunk to cap a 12-4 run to cut the Beavers deficit to just four.
The Mariners held a 34-30 lead heading into halftime and scored the first seven points of the 2nd half to open up an 11-point lead once again.
Simon Chadbourne (Portland, Maine) hit a turnaround jumper and a transition, walk-in three after a Griffin steal to cut the Beavers’ deficit to six and the momentum began to shift in favor of Farmington.
After a Carter Rubin three pushed the Mariners lead back to nine, the Beavers responded with a 9-0 run to knot the game up at 46 apiece. The Mariners had started to bend but they didn’t break. CJ Lilljeqvist put an end to the Beavers’ run with a three of his own. Chadbourne came back down and hit a pullup in the lane and a back and forth battle ensued.
After a pair of Dancy free throws, Zachary Mickle (Billerica, Mass.) drilled a three to knot the game back up. Two possessions later Anthony hit a layup off a beautiful feed from Mickle to give the Beavers their first lead since the opening seconds of the game.
Once again, the Mariners had an answer. A quick 6-0 spurt lead by Heinz gave the Mariners a 57-53 lead. After Ethan Forrester (Colorado Springs, Colo.) hit one of two from the free throw line with 8:00 left to play, the game stayed within a one possession ballgame, with neither team leading by more than three points.
Chadbourne hit another contested jumper with three minutes left to play to give the Beavers a one-point lead. After both teams were held scoreless for the next two minutes, Rubin hit a tough floater from the baseline to give the Mariners a lead once again.
After a Beaver timeout, Griffin made a beautiful spin along the baseline to get around Heinz and finished with a sweet layup to give the Beavers a one-point advantage. On the ensuing Mariner possession, Dancy hit a pullup from the free throw line to once again give Maine Maritime a lead.
After a hectic double turnover gave the Beavers the ball again, Griffin made a move to his left, colliding with Rubin who was called for a blocking foul, sending Griffin to the line for one-and-one. Griffin drilled both free throws to give the Beavers a lead while the Mariners had no timeouts remaining. After a hail mary throw went awry, the Beavers got the ball back and Griffin drilled two more free throws to seal the win.
Griffin finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-12 shooting and grabbing four rebounds. Chadbourne added 12 points and Brock Flagg (Brewer, Maine) chipped in with 11 of his own.
Heinz scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Mariners while also adding 14 rebounds and five assists. Rubin pitched in with 14 points while Dancy had 12.
The Beavers moved to 14-8 on the season with a 7-3 record in the NAC East play with the victory.
UP NEXT
The Beavers head to Husson Friday evening for another important NAC contest. The game is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
