GORHAM, Maine - Senior guard Jason Levecque (Westbrook, Maine) iced two free throws to put the University of Southern Maine Huskies ahead 69-67 with 59 seconds remaining to fend off a surging Eastern Connecticut State University squad,
leading Southern Maine to a conference-opening 70-68 win over the Warriors.
With the win Southern Maine improves to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the Little East Conference. Dropping its third consecutive game, Eastern Connecticut falls to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Levecque led all scorers with a game-high 20 points and four steals. Senior guard Mike Francoeur (Somersworth,NH/Cheshire) added 17 points and freshman guard Josh Daniels (Seattle, Wash./Maine Central Institute) chipped in with 12 points for the Huskies. Southern Maine finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field by connecting on 23 of 48 shots.
The Huskies seemed to have the game in hand taking a 14-point lead with just over nine minutes remaining when junior forward Jesse McKinnell (Manomet, Mass./Scituate) connected on back-to-back free throws to give Southern Maine a commanding 59-45 lead, but Eastern Connecticut refused to fade away surging back into the game.
The Warriors would connect on four three-pointers, outscoring the Huskies
22-8, over the next seven minutes of action to knot the game up at 67 points
apiece. Eastern Connecticut's Geoffrey Richardson (Hartford, Conn./Northwest
Catholic) sparked the Warriors connecting on two of his three three-pointers in
the run while forward Tim Callahan (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) displayed his range hitting the nets for back-to-back trifectas. Richardson ended the night as the Warriors leading scoring with 15 points, while Callahan had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Callahan's driving lay-up with 2:21 remaining was the equalizer for the Warriors, but a turnover off of a McKinnell steal and a foul from Eastern Connecticut's Matt Albon (Middlebury, Conn./Holy Cross) put Levecque and the game on the line. Eastern Connecticut had a chance to tie the game with 34 seconds remaining after Callahan reached the free throw line, but he managed just one of two from the charity stripe, and after a Daniels free throw for the 70-68 final the Huskies held on for the win.
Southern Maine returns to action Wednesday, December 8 at Colby College for a 7:30 p.m. start. Eastern Connecticut hosts Rhode Island College, Saturday, December 11 at 3 p.m. in Little East Conference action.