FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington men’s basketball team amassed a 23-point lead and held off a late Castleton State College surge to grab an 89-83 victory over the Spartans in North Atlantic Conference action Friday night in Dearborn Gymnasium.
The Beavers improved to 10-10 (8-3 in the NAC) with Green Mountain College at home Saturday. The men’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the women to follow. The Spartans slipped to 2-20 (1-10) with a trip to Thomas College Saturday.
Josh Tanguay (Gorham, ME) drained all 11 of his shots on his way to a game-high 24 points for the Beavers with Eric Lelansky (Portland, ME) adding 14 points, Eric Taylor (Oakland, ME) posting a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds and Andrew Dean (Gorham, ME) finishing with 11 points after hitting eight of eight free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory.
Marcus Hass (East Montpelier, VT) led Castleton with 20 points, while Kevin Cayea (Red Hook, NY) chipped in 16 points and Cameron Bodine (Victor, NY) and Michael Carrier (Burlington, VT) also reach double-digits with 13 and 11 points each, respectively.
Led by 11 of Taylor’s points, the Beavers grabbed a 36-24 advantage after the opening half and used an 18-4 stretch over a five-minute span in the second to raise the command to 57-34 with 12:05 left in the contest. The run was spearheaded by a pair of three-point plays by Tanguay.
The Beavers maintained their double-digit distance until the final minutes. With 3:36 left in the game, Farmington held a 75-56 lead, but the Spartans reeled off the game’s next nine points to trim the lead to 75-65 with 2:23 remaining. The run was capped by a Hass dunk.
Following a pair of Mike Gingras (Winthrop, ME) free throws, Castleton scored the game’s next seven points to cut the lead to 77-72 with just over a minute to play. The Farmington lead dipped to four points, but Dean was flawless from the charity stripe and Lelansky added three more in sealing the 89-83 win.
