Beavers cut Braves down for 2nd time> UMF wins MAC season title

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BANGOR – Daren Meader has spent four years listening to the talk about how Husson and St. Joseph’s are the class of the Maine Athletic Conference.

Wednesday night, Meader and the University of Maine-Farmington provided further evidence that this season the Beavers are, at long last, the team to beat.

UM-Farmington turned in a tough defensive effort and Meader scored 17 second-half points as the Beavers clinched the MAC regular-season title with a 66-58 victory over Husson at Newman Gym.

Coach Dick Meader’s 16-4 Beavers improved to 8-0 in league play, posting a rare regular-season sweep of the Braves. Husson slipped to 13-9, including a 5-2 MAC mark that leaves the Braves clinging to second place.

“After four years of being third or fourth place in the conference and always losing to St. Joe’s and Husson each year, probably twice, it’s just good to get them,” said Daren Meader, a former standout at Waterville High School.

After being limited to one foul shot in the first half, the poised senior connected for 12 in the final 9:07 to help UMF pull out the victory. Meader also provided four assists and two steals.

It was the Beavers’ gritty man-to-man defense that ensured the victory. UMF’s post trio of Kevin Lasante, Mike Fullerton, and Jeremy Deeds combined to limit 6-foot-9 Husson center Brad Olson to four second-half points after he had scored 12 before halftime.

“The guys inside really did a great job of making it difficult for the big guys, for Olson,” Dick Meader said.

UM-Farmington shut off the middle well enough to take Husson out of its offense, especially in the second half. Of the Braves’ 25 field-goal attempts after intermission, 14 were from 3-point range.

“We weren’t mentally tough enough to wait for the opportunity to get the ball inside,” said Husson coach Warren Caruso. “They have 4 1/2 guys in the paint most of the time guarding one and we didn’t move the ball crisply enough to get good enough shots.”

Former Skowhegan High star Jared Rivers contributed 16 points and nine rebounds for UMF, while A.J. Dufort added 10 points.

Nikos Sompatzis had 11 points, six assists, and three steals for Husson, while Anthony Russo netted 11 points and grabbed six boards. Matt Breen added eight rebounds.

Husson held a 43-34 edge with 13:34 to play. However, the Braves suffered through a stretch of 9 minutes, 35 seconds during which they didn’t make a field goal.

“They really responded well in the second half and executed what the wanted to do at both ends of the floor where, in turn, I thought we didn’t do that,” Caruso said. “There’s no question that’s the best team in the conference right now.”

Dufort helped jump-start the UMF offense, scoring on a slicing move to ignite a 9-0 flurry. Tom Nadeau of Skowhegan had a conventional three-point play and Rivers added a 3-pointer and a foul shot as the Beavers tied it 43-43 with 11:06 left.

UMF went ahead for good at the 7:40 mark on a rebound hoop by Meader and Mike Fullerton scored three straight points before Sompatzis hit a 3-pointer with 4:53 to play that ended the costly drought.

The Beavers came back to score nine of the next 12 points with a strong transition game while building an eight-point advantage.

Beavers 66, Braves 58

UM-Farmington (16-4) Husson (13-9)

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

Dufort 4 6 2 3 10 Sompatzis 4 7 0 0 11

Rivers 6 9 2 4 16 Russo 4 7 0 0 11

Wilcox 0 5 3 6 3 King 3 12 0 0 8

Meader 5 17 7 10 18 Breen 0 5 3 4 3

Lasante 1 4 0 0 2 Olson 5 8 5 9 16

Benge 0 1 0 0 0 Lancaster 3 11 0 0 8

Nadeau 3 3 1 1 9 Fletcher 0 3 1 2 1

Fullerton 2 3 1 2 6 Rivera 0 3 0 0 0

Deeds 1 2 0 1 2

Totals 22 50 16 27 66 Totals 19 56 9 15 58

UMaine-Farmington 24 66

Husson 30 58

3-pt. goals: UMF (6-17): Dufort 0-1, Nadeau 2-2, Rivers 2-3, Wilcox 0-4, Meader 1-6, Fullerton 1-1; Husson (11-30): Sompatzis 3-5, Lancaster 2-6, Russo 3-5, King 2-8, Rivera 0-3, Olson 1-3

Attendance: 225 (est.)