PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island College Anchormen used an 18-3 run over the final 6:46 to pull away from the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies and post a 77-61 victory in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at The McMurray Center.
The win was the fourth straight for the surging Anchormen, and improved their overall record to 11-12 and 7-5 in the conference. Southern Maine dropped to 8-15 overall and 2-10 in the Little East.
Rhode Island College led 59-58 with 6:46 to play after USM sophomore Quinn Fulcher (South Royalton, Vt.) hit a three-point shot. Freshman Kevin Zalucki (Enfield, Conn.) and junior Jason Harris (Bedford, Mass.) combined to scored the next eight points to give the Anchormen a 67-58 advantage with 2:11 to go.
After sophomore Jesse McKinnell (Manomet, Mass.) made one of two free throws for the Huskies, seniors Kamran Alemdar (Stockholm, Sweden) and Lester Carter (Boston, Mass.) scored the next 10 points, including 8-of-8 from the foul line, to clinch the win. USM freshman Ian Hebert (Gray, Maine) scored the final basket to account for the final score.
Southern Maine had the edge in play during the first half, building an 11-point lead (23-12) midway through the half. The Anchormen used a 12-1 run over a span of 3:33 to pull even at 24-24. The Huskies responded by rebuilding their lead back up to eight (35-27 and 37-29) before Alemdar scored the final six points of the half on a pair of three-point shots to leave the Huskies with a slim two-point advantage (37-35) at intermission.
Alemdar paced five Anchormen in double figures with a game-high 18 points while Zalucki finished with 14 points. Sophomore Brian Stanko (Swansea, Mass.) and freshman Kamari Williams (Springfield, Mass.) each had 12 points while Carter finished with 11 points off the bench.
Southern Maine was led by junior Jason Levecque (Westbrook, Maine) who had 15 points. Junior Ryan Garland (Hermon, Maine) added 13 points and sophomore Caleb Sayward (Raymond, Maine) came off the bench to toss in 11.
The Anchormen shot 52 percent (13 for 25) from the floor in the second half to finish the game shooting 41.7 percent (25 for 60). Southern Maine, which shot a blistering 53.6 percent (15 for 28) in the first half, went stone cold in the second half to shoot only 28.6 percent (6 for 21). The Huskies finished the game shooting 42.9 percent.
USM will hit the road against Tuesday when it travels to Plymouth, N.H., to take on Plymouth State University. Rhode Island College will travel to Western Connecticut State University, also on Tuesday.