PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Freshman Andreas Pope (Brooklyn, N.Y.) came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points as the second-seeded Plymouth State University Panthers held off the determined seventh-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies 75-70 in an opening round game of the 2004 Little East Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Tuesday night at the foley Gymnasium.
The win was the seventh straight for the Panthers who improved to 22-4 overall. Plymouth State will move into the semifinals Friday night against sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth which upset third seeded Eastern Connecticut State University, 62-61. The other semifinal match-up pits top seeded Keene State College against fourth seeded Western Connecticut State University.
Southern Maine ends its first season under first-year coach Karl Henrikson at 9-17.
Pope, a 6-foot-1 forward, connnected on 6-of-9 shots from the floor and 9-of-10 from the foul line for his 21 points. He also grabbed five rebounds, dished out three assists and made two steals.
Down by 11 at the break, the Huskies chipped away at the Panther’s lead over the first 13 minutes to finally take their first lead (52-51) since early in the first half when sophomore Caleb Sayward (Raymond, Maine) hit a short jumper with 7:27 left in regulation.
Pope sparked a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to restore the Panther’s double digit lead (67-56 with 2:23 to play). Southern Maine connected on four straight three-point shots in the final minute, but the Panthers iced the game converting 7-of-8 free throws.
In the opening half, the Panthers used an 8-0 run midway through to break an 18-18 tie an establish the early lead. Pope accounted for six of the eight points during that stretch.
The Huskies battled back to within four (32-28) on junior Ryan Garland’s (Hermon, Maine) three-pointer, but the Panthers scored the final seven points of the half to take a 39-28 lead to the locker room.
Senior Mike Loughlin (Goffstown, N.H.) ably supported Pope with 20 points, including 8-of-10 free throws. Junior Anthony Oglesby (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Southern Maine had a balanced offense as five players finished in double figures, led by Garland and junior Jay Casterella (Portland, Maine), each with 13 points. Juniors Jason Levecque (Westbrook, Maine) and Derek Lovely (Oxford, Maine) added 11 points apiece, and Mike Francoeur (Somersworth, N.H.) finished with 10 points and five assists. Casterella shared game-high reobunding honors with Oglesby, grabbing seven boards.
Southern Maine shot 52.1 percent (25 of 48) from the floor, including 9-of-16 from beyond the three-point arc. Plymouth State finished the game shooting 48 percent (24 for 50) from the floor, but had a big edge at the foul line, converting 25 of 34 charity tosses. Southern Maine made 11 of 15 free throws. USM had a slim 30-27 advantage on the boards.