BANGOR – If the 2003-04 basketball season is the one in which the University of Maine-Machias men establish themselves as a power, this weekend’s Paul Bunyan Invitational may be the catalyst for the move from also-ran to contender.

The Clippers followed a history-making (and breaking) win over host Husson College Friday with a statement-making 71-48 victory over Fisher College of Boston in Saturday afternoon’s championship game.

“This is huge in terms of confidence to come in here and win both games,” said UMM coach Randy Lee. “I think the main thing about winning here is we’re improving, especially after coming off a loss to Bates, and I like the way we came back strong after an emotional win over Husson Friday.”

Husson finished third in the tourney with an 82-55 win over UMaine-Augusta Saturday.

In the championship, the Clippers’ top scorers for the second straight game were forward Wayne Clark and guard Bayi Handy, but unlike Friday’s game, Saturday’s was more one-sided and team-oriented. Six players grabbed four rebounds or more while nine had four or more points in a game that saw the 8-6 Clippers shoot 50 percent from the floor.

As impressive as the Clippers’ offense was, it was their defense which was largely responsible for the victory margin. Their tight, man-to-man defense helped force 35 Fisher turnovers and kept the 5-6 Falcons scoreless for six minutes, 40 seconds.

“Playing the defense the way we did, that makes our offense so much easier to play,” said UMM junior captain and 6-foot-3 center Gary Dussard, who finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

“I’m not sure how many points we got off transition and playing weak-side help while fronting the post, but it obviously played a big part in this win,” Dussard added.

The Clippers swelled a 16-point halftime lead to 28 four minutes into the second half, thanks to an 18-0 run starting with 2:08 left in the first half.

“We play on the line, up the line,” said Handy. “We sink into the gaps, deny the passing lanes, and make sure we have help defense, and our big men did a great job of fronting the post today.”

Handy, who was named tourney MVP, contributed 12 points and five assists to the effort. Clark led UMM with 14 points and five rebounds.

Fisher was led by all-tournament members Kessen Green (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Josh Nelson (four, seven). Freshman center Joel Gomez came up with an 11-point, nine-rebound effort off the bench.

The consolation game was d?j? vu for the Braves as they headed into halftime tied with the UMA Moose.

“The half was the same as it was the day before, so we had the same conversation at halftime,” said coach Warren Caruso, whose Braves are now 2-2. “I just told them what was obvious: When we run our offense, we’re successful. When we don’t, we aren’t.”

This time, Caruso’s players listened and put that knowledge to work as they improved both their shooting and their defensive effort in the second half.

“We didn’t shoot the ball that well, but we made some solid decisions and we played good defense,” Caruso said. “The big thing was we played defense well and consistently through the second half.”

The Braves’ shooting percentage went from 29.7 in the first half to 42.4 in the second. Meanwhile, their ball-control was effective as they committed seven turnovers in all while harassing UMA into 24 – 14 in the second half. The Braves went on a 13-4 run early in the second half and put the game out of reach with an 11-1 run in the final nine minutes.

Five Husson players scored in double digits as Dwayne Ailey led the way with 14. Buddy Leavitt had 13 points, four assists, and two blocks. He switched defensive duties in the second half and became Coop Nickerson’s shadow after the Moose center had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.

The 6-8 Nickerson finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds. Dargold Harbin had 12 points and seven boards.

CLIPPERS 71, FALCONS 48

Fisher (5-6) UM-Machias (8-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cruz 4 14 2 4 10 Munro 2 3 2 6

Holland 0 3 0 0 0 Dussard 3 11 9

Manning 0 0 0 0 0 Handy 6 9 12

Nelson 2 10 0 2 4 Liburd 0 0 0

Green 7 12 5 7 20 Midgley 3 10 6

Gomez 5 12 1 3 11 Gayle 2 3 4

Massie 1 6 1 4 3 Johnson 2 3 4

Socoby 0 0 0 0

Simmons 2 5 2 6

Cerimagic 0 0 0

Clark 6 8 2 14

Morgan 3 6 0 7

Garrett 1 2 0 3

Totals 19 57 9 20 48 30 60 11 71

Fisher 22 48

UM-Machias 38 71

3-pt. goals ? Fisher (1-9): Green 1-2, Massie 0-1, Holland 0-1, Cruz 0-3; UMM (3-10): Garrett 1-1, Dussard 1-2, Morgan 1-2, Simmons 0-1, Handy 0-2, Midgley 0-2

Attendance: 82

BRAVES 82, MOOSE 55

Husson (2-2) UM-Augusta (4-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Demuth 0 0 0 0 0 Lewis 1 2 2

Franzose 0 0 0 0 0 Groder 0 0 0

Beauregard 3 14 4 6 11 Melgard 1 4 2

J.White 4 10 2 2 11 Harbin 5 8 12

Ailey 4 11 5 5 14 Hunter 1 5 3

Cunningham 1 3 4 4 7 Couture 0 0 0

Griffeth 3 4 0 0 7 Joseph 0 3 0

Grant 3 6 2 4 9 Nickerson 8 17 14 16 30

Griffin 3 8 4 4 10 McGouldrck 0 0

Leavitt 4 14 3 4 13 Levesque 0 0

Brady 0 0 0 0

Blodgett 1 9 3

Manix 1 4 1 3

Totals 25 70 24 29 82 18 52 16 22 55

Husson 37 82

UM-Augusta 37 55

3-pt. goals ? Husson (7-31): Leavitt 2-9, Cunningham 1-3, Cunningham 1-3, White 1-4, Ailey 1-5, Beauregard 1-6, Griffeth 0-1; UMA (3-8): Harbin 2-3, Hunter 1-3, Joseph 0-1, Melgard 0-1

Attendance: 200 (est.)