FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington men’s basketball team held Maine Maritime Academy to 20 percent shooting as the Beavers collected a 54-37 North Atlantic Conference victory over the Mariners today in Dearborn Gymnasium.
The Beavers upped their record to 9-10 overall and 7-3 in the NAC. Farmington is scheduled to host Castleton State College Friday. The Mariners (7-13, 3-6) are slated to visit Husson University Tuesday.
Ted Neil (Strong, ME) tallied 16 points to lead the Beavers with Josh Tanguay (Gorham, ME) supplying 12 points and 10 rebounds, Eric Taylor (Oakland, ME) yanking down 15 boards and Andrew Dean (Gorham, ME) collecting eight assists. The Beavers made 22 of 58 shots from the field (37.9 percent, while the Mariners connected on 11 of 55, including four of 25 (16 percent) from 3-point range.
Derek DiFrederico (Millinocket, ME) led MMA with 11 points. Jake Manner (Frankfort, ME) grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss.
Neither team shined offensively in the early goings with the Mariners taking a 16-10 lead on a DiFrederico three with 8:24 left in the opening half as Farmington went five minutes without a field. After DiFrederico hit another jumper at 7:33 for an 18-12 advantage, MMA was held scoreless for the rest of the half as the Beavers went on a 12-0 run — Neil and D.J. Gerrish (Rumford, ME) with five points each — to take a 24-18 lead into halftime.
On a Tanguay layup and a 3-pointer each by Eric Lelansky (Portland, ME) and Dean, the Beavers rolled off the first eight points of the second half to push its streak to 20-0 en route to a 32-18 advantage. A basket by Jarred Sternburgh (Jonesboro, ME) ended the Mariners’ scoreless stretch at 10 minutes.
Farmington built its lead to 19 points, only to have MMA close to 42-33 with 8:04 remaining, but the Beavers rolled off the game’s next 10 points — holding the Mariners scoreless for six minutes — to close out the 54-37 victory.
