The Husson University men’s and women’s basketball teams played in the East Division North Atlantic Conference Tournament starting on Friday with quarterfinal action. The Eagles men would come up short on Friday in the quarterfinals, while the women won their Q-Final on Friday to make it to a Saturday semifinal but also came up just a bit short.
At UMaine-Farmington Friday night- Griffin Guerrette poured in 39 points as the University of Maine-Presque Isle ended the season for the Husson men’s team 97-87. The Owls came out strong and built a 14 point first half lead on a couple of occasions. The Eagles though used a 19-6 run over the final 6:26 to cut it to just a 36-35 deficit at the halftime break, with both Scott Lewis and Derek Collin knocking down big three-pointers late in the half. Collin gave Husson their first lead with the first basket of the second half, and also their last lead with a layup 1:13 later. UMPI then would pull away again and put it away as Guerrette caught fire scoring 18 of the next 28 points for the Owls as they got the lead back to 14 and put it on cruise control. Justice Kendall led the Eagles with 21 points in the loss, as they end their season at 13-13. Collin had 16 points and seven rebounds. Also scoring in double figures was Jeremy Moronta with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Lewis and J Thomas had 10 points each. Along with the big game from Guerrette, UMPI got 22 points from Dany Harris, 15 from Gilbert Jean Mendez, and 10 points from KJ Minter.
In the men’s semifinal on Saturday in Farmington- It was the top seed and host UMaine-Farmington advancing to the NAC Title game with an 86-74 win over the Owls as the season for UMPI ends with a record of 13-14. The Beavers (19-7) will host either SUNY-Delhi or Cazenovia College in the NAC Championship game next Saturday at 2 p.m.
At Maine Maritime Academy on Friday night- The Husson women’s team led from start to finish and advanced to Saturday with an 87-61 NAC quarterfinal win over the University of Maine-Presque Isle. Bailey Donovan and Vanessa Duarte both had 18 points, with Donovan hauling in 23 rebounds. Makaelyn Porter (13) and Trinity Montigny (12) also got into double figures in the win. Emily Wheaton led UMPI in the loss with 21 points, as the Owls finish at 14-11.
On Saturday afternoon in Castine- A layup by Maria Barela with 1:30 left gave the Maine Maritime Academy Mariners the lead for good in a hard fought 52-49 win over Husson to advance to the NAC Championship game next Saturday. Duarte recorded her 1,000th career point in the defeat for the Eagles, while Donovan notched her 1,000th rebound. The guests had their last lead on a Donovan layup with 2:30 left in what was a very closely contested game throughout. Barela hit 1-2 from the line with 2:09 left to put the hosts back within a point, and then had the layup that pushed them into the lead for good. Donovan led the way with 14 points and 22 rebounds, as she was the only Eagles player in double figures. Husson ends their season at 20-7. Former Hermon Hawk Lauren Plissey had 13 points and Erianna Moore had 12 to lead the Mariners to victory. MMA is now 21-6 and will host West Division winner SUNY-Poly next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the NAC Championship with a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line.
Recaps by Chris Lessner
