BANGOR – Husson College picked a poor time to be in a rut, during the home stretch of its Maine Athletic Conference men’s basketball season. But with the playoffs looming only two weeks away, the Braves finally showed their potential Thursday night.

Husson shifted into postseason form with a dominant, second-half performance, racing to a 107-81 victory over the University of Maine-Machias at Newman Gym.

Coach Warren Caruso’s Braves clinched at least the No. 2 seed in the MAC tournament, improving to 15-12 overall, 9-2 in league play. The Clippers of Rich Ward slipped to 7-13, 2-8 in the MAC.

Husson was sluggish in the first half as UM-Machias rode the inside play of Barry Shramban and Jagos Medenica to a 38-37 halftime lead. But after the break, Husson wore down the Clippers.

Senior guard Bryan Jefferson poured in 16 of his team-high 26 points in the second half to help Husson establish its trademark, end-to-end style.

“If we don’t fast-break, we have to set up and slow the game up, and that’s not our style of ball,” said Jefferson, who had nine assists.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but if we play 40 minutes like we played our last 20 minutes [tonight], it’ll be hard to beat us at the end of the season,” he added.

Husson ended the suspense early in the second half. The Braves opened with an 11-6 run to take their first lead of the contest, then took control with a 17-4 flurry and buried UMM with a 21-5 spurt.

Husson shot 27-for-37 (73 percent) from the floor in the half.

Freshman Mike McCaffrey set the tone, scoring off his own steal and hitting a short jumper from the baseline. He scored 14 of his 19 points in the last 20 minutes.

Senior Rick Sinclair and junior Brian Alley were other keys in Husson’s resurgence. Alley hit a 13-footer from the lane and made two free throws to give Husson a 48-44 lead with 17:02 left.

After UMM’s Shramban scored from down low, Jefferson scored six points and Alley four during a four-minute burst that put the Braves in front 65-50 with 11:50 to play. UMM could not recover.

“It’s that time of year where you’ve got to play like that for 40 minutes to win games, otherwise your season’s going to be over,” said Caruso, who said his team has not been sharp of late. “This is the way we’ve been looking to play now for about 10 days.”

Sinclair finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five blocked shots, while Chris Funk netted 14 points and Alley 13.

Shramban poured in a game-high 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to pace UM-Machias, while Medenica scored 19 points and Matt Lash 11. Antoine Morin had eight assists.

Husson put the game out of reach with another surge starting at the 10:40 mark. Alley dunked off the break and McCaffrey buried a 3-pointer to spark a 15-5 flurry that pushed the Braves’ lead to a comfortable 80-59 with 8:26 left.

The Clippers hung onto a first-half lead behind the inside play of Shramban and Medenica. UMM played steady man-to-man defense and went to the boards hard, limiting the Braves’ second chances.

While UMM was able to get the ball into the post often, Husson struggled to find continuity on the offensive end.

Braves 107, Clippers 81

UM-Machias (7-13) Husson men (15-12)

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Torrey 2 5 0 0 6 Jefferson 11 18 4 9 26

Wood 1 1 0 0 2 Cameron 2 3 1 4 5

Parkus 0 1 0 0 0 McCaffrey 7 14 2 2 19

Fernald 1 7 5 7 7 Dyt 2 3 0 0 4

Morin 2 6 2 2 7 J. Durost 0 1 0 0 0

Medenica 8 18 3 4 19 Foye 0 1 0 0 0

Shramban 9 22 10 14 29 B. Durost 2 3 0 0 5

Evers 0 0 0 0 0 Funk 6 7 1 2 14

Lash 5 11 0 0 11 Alley 5 6 3 4 13

Santiago 0 0 0 0 0 Sinclair 7 12 2 2 19

Knight 0 30 0 0 0 McAneany 1 2 0 0 0

Totals 28 74 20 27 81 Totals 43 71 13 23 107

UM-Machias 38 81

Husson 37 107

3-pt. goals: UM-Machias (5-20): Torrey 2-4, Fernald 0-4, Morin 1-2, Medenica 0-1, Shramban 1-3, Lash 1-6; Husson (8-18): Jefferson 0-1, McCaffrey 3-7, J. Durost 0-1, Foye 0-1, Durost 1-2, Funk 1-1, Sinclair 3-5