STANDISH, Maine -- Junior guard Mike Francoeur (Somersworth, N.H.) scored a team-high 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 64-53 victory over the St. Joseph’s College Monks in a non-conference game Wednesday night at the Alfond Center.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Huskies, and improved their overall record to 7-13. St. Joseph’s lost its third straight game to fall to 6-14.
The Huskies trailed on only one occasion in the game (4-3) when sophomore Noah LaRoche (Exeter, N.H.) hit a pair of free throws two minutes into the game. Francoeur responded for the Huskies with the first of his three first-half three-point shots that ignited a 7-0 run and gave the visitors a 10-4 lead.
A quick 5-0 burst by the Monks’ junior captain Steve Monteiro (Ipswich, Mass.) got St. Joe’s back within one (10-9), but an ensuing 6-0 run kept the Huskies in command.
After two free throws by freshman Colby Emmons (Portland, Maine) and a basket by Monteiro cut the deficit to three (16-13), the Huskies scored the game’s next 10 points to take a double-digit lead. USM took a 32-21 advantage to the locker room at half-time as junior Derek Lovely (Oxford, Maine) hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Huskies maintained their lead throughout the second half as the Monks never got closer than seven points (two occasions, the last at 49-42).
Lovely was the only other USM player in double figures with 12 points.
Monteiro led all scorers in the game with 18 points. Sophomore Mike Stallings (Waterbury, Conn.) added 13.
The Huskies shot 48 percent (24 for 50) from the floor, including 7 of 14 from beyond the three-point arc while holding the Monks to 35.2 percent (19 for 54) shooting. St. Joe’s, which had a 39-28 edge on the boards, hurt its own cause making only 13 of 23 free throws.
Southern Maine returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Little East Conference rival Keene State College at the Warren Hill Gymnasium. Game time is 3:00 p.m. St. Joseph’s is off until next Tuesday (February 10) when it travels to Bates College.