News Release

GORHAM, Maine — Southern Maine Knocks Off UMass Dartmouth, 74-68
GORHAM, Maine -- Junior guard Derek Lovely (Oxford, Maine) hit a string of three three-point shots in the second half to help the University of Southern Maine Huskies fend off the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs 74-68 in a Little East Conference game Saturday afternoon at the Warren G. Hill Gymnasium. The game was the regular season finale for both teams.
Southern Maine finished 9-16 overall and 3-11 in the Little East, and will be the seventh seed in the championship tournament which begins Tuesday night. The Huskies will travel to second-seeded Plymouth State University. UMass Dartmouth ended the season 12-13 overall and 5-9 in the conference. The Corsairs are the sixth seed and will travel to an opponent to be determined.
A 6-0 run, keyed by a pair of baskets by sophomore forward Chris Lapriore (Grafton, Mass.), gave the Corsairs a one-point lead (56-55) with nine minutes to play before Lovely went found his stroke.
The 6-foot guard snapped a three-minute dry spell for the Huskies with his first trifecta of the half. Junior Matt McAuliffe (Sutton, Mass.) hit a two-pointer for the Corsairs, but Lovely came right back with his second three-pointer. Another McAuliffe deuce, followed by Lovely’s third long-range bomb, left the Huskies up 64-60 with just under seven minutes to play.
The Huskies twice pushed the lead to six over the next three minutes on baskets by sophomore Jesse McKinnell (Manomet, Mass.) and junior Mike Francoeur (Somersworth, N.H.). Junior Joseph Britto (Fairhaven, Mass.) pulled the Corsairs within three (70-67) with one of two free throws and a basket with 2:14 to play, but the visitors would get no closer in the final two minutes.
Southern Maine led throughout the slow-paced first half. The Huskies enjoyed their biggest lead of 10 points when junior Jason Levecque (Westbrook, Maine) scored to make it 32-22. The Corsairs closed back to within eight when Britto scored on a second-chance shot at the buzzer to make it 37-29 at half-time.
Lovely shared team-high scoring honors with junior Ryan Garland (Hermon, Maine) and Levecque, each tossing in 14 points. Junior Jay Casterella (Portland, Maine) and Francoeur finished with 10 points. Casterella led all rebounders with nine boards.
Lapriore, who was saddled with three fouls and just two points in the first half, poured in 17 second-half points to take game-high honors with 19 points. Britto had 14 points, freshman Paul Pawlowski (Taunton, Mass.) chipped in 12 and sophomore Devon Maiorano (Rehoboth, Mass.) had 10.
Southern Maine finished the game shooting 57.4 percent (27 of 47) from the floor, including 56.3 percent (9 for 16) from beyond the three-point arc. UMass Dartmouth shot 44.2 percent (27 of 61) from the floor, but converted just 3 of 17 shots from three-point territory.