With the win, UMaine-Farmington (14-12 overall, 12-7 NAC) won its third straight game and advanced to Friday night’s conference tournament quarterfinal game against the winner of the No. 1 Lasell College/No. 8 Thomas College game.
Elms College saw its seven-game winning streak snapped to finish the year 13-13 overall, 12-7 NAC.
With the game tied at 56-56, junior forward Bob Deetjen (Boothbay, ME) knocked down a 3-pointer to give UMaine-Farmington the lead for good at 59-56.
Although the Blazers were able to close to within 60-58 with two minutes remaining, junior forward Luke Nielsen (Parsonsfield, ME) converted a 3-point play with a putback and free throw to extend the Beavers’ lead to 63-58 with 1:41 remaining to seal the victory.
Magnusson tallied a team-high 18 points, while Deetjen (12), Nielsen (11) and junior guard Steve Ginn (Windham, ME) (10) also reached double figures for the Beavers in the win.
The opening half featured eight lead changes. Following a 21-10 run by UMaine-Farmington in the game’s opening 10 minutes, the Blazers battled back with a 13-4 run of their own in the next five minutes to take their first lead of the game, 29-28. Junior guard Kyle Seyboth (Seekonk, MA) and senior forward Sean Furey (Great Barrington, MA) each hit a 3-pointer to key that first half run.
From there, the game featured 15 more lead changes with neither team leading by more than five points.
Newspaper Box Score Me.-Farmington vs Elms College 2/24/04 7:00 p.m. at Chicopee, MA At Chicopee, MA ME.-FARMINGTON 70, ELMS COLLEGE 61 ME.-FARMINGTON (14-12, 12-7 NAC) Travis Magnusson 6-15 5-8 18; Bob Deetjen 3-7 4-5 12; Luke Nielsen 4-7 3-5 11; Steve Ginn 4-8 2-2 10; Trafton Teague 2-7 3-4 9; Shawn Gallagher 3-7 0-0 6; Tom Labrie 1-2 0-0 2; Jon Bird 1-1 0-0 2; Travis Carrier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 17-24 70. ELMS COLLEGE (13-13, 12-7 NAC) John Ancrum 7-17 12-14 26; Deshawn Hawkins 4-10 5-5 14; Kyle Seyboth 3-12 0-0 8; Sean Furey 2-4 0-0 5; Chellvonto Little 1-3 2-2 4; Ernest Hughes 0-2 2-4 2; Lonnie Branyon III 1-3 0-0 2; Kevin Furey 0-1 0-0 0; James Vassar 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 21-25 61. Me.-Farmington................ 34 36 - 70 Elms College.................. 34 27 - 61 3-point goals-Me.-Farmington 5-15 (Bob Deetjen 2-5; Trafton Teague 2-5; Travis Magnusson 1-1; Shawn Gallagher 0-1; Tom Labrie 0-1; Steve Ginn 0-2), Elms College 4-23 (Kyle Seyboth 2-10; Deshawn Hawkins 1-4; Sean Furey 1-2; Kevin Furey 0-1; James Vassar 0-1; Chellvonto Little 0-1; John Ancrum 0-4). Fouled out--Me.-Farmington-None, Elms College-Chellvonto Little. Rebounds-Me.-Farmington 35 (Luke Nielsen 8; Shawn Gallagher 8), Elms College 34 (Deshawn Hawkins 9). Assists-Me.-Farmington 20 (Steve Ginn 5), Elms College 16 (John Ancrum 7). Total fouls-Me.-Farmington 21, Elms College 25. A-125 No. 5 UMaine-Farmington advances to Friday's NAC semifinal.