BANGOR – Buddy Leavitt lives through the ups and downs typical of any long-range shooter.

Recently the downs have been more frequent than the ups, but the 6-foot-7 junior from Guilford broke loose for 11 points during a 3:36 span of the second half Tuesday night to propel Husson College to an 80-68 victory over Mount Ida College in a North Atlantic Conference men’s basketball quarterfinal at Newman Gymnasium.

The win advances the second-seeded Braves (16-10 overall, 14-5 in NAC play) to a semifinal Friday at Lasell College in Newton, Mass., against third-seeded Castleton (Vt.) State. Castleton State (15-11, 14-5) topped sixth-ranked Maine Maritime Academy 71-68.

Husson and Mount Ida, also of Newton, Mass., were locked in a 47-47 tie with 15:14 left in the game when Leavitt rediscovered his shooting mojo, hitting a 3-pointer from the key to spark a 14-4 run that gave the Braves the lead for good.

Teammate Bill Beauregard followed with another 3-pointer before Mount Ida star Josh Didick, playing with four fouls after drawing matching technicals with Husson’s Phil White for a ball-throwing incident moments earlier, countered with a baseline jumper.

Leavitt then hit two free throws, grabbed a loose ball and went inside for a three-point play, and made another 3-pointer to push Husson’s lead to 61-51 with 11:38 left.

“It’s about time,” said Leavitt. “I’ve been struggling lately, and finally I started hitting shots. My teammates got me open shots and set perfect screens, and I made the shots.”

Mount Ida, playing its fourth game in five days, got no closer than nine points the rest of the way, in part due to a Husson defense that limited the Mustangs to 26 percent shooting (8 of 31) and forced 10 turnovers after intermission.

“Coach talked about it at halftime, saying we needed to be more aggressive at the defensive end,” said Husson guard Dwayne Ailey, named a first-team All-NAC choice earlier in the day. “This is the playoffs, and we knew it was going to be a dogfight.”

Ailey, the only senior on the Husson roster, finished with 21 points, five assists and four steals. Leavitt added 17 points, White had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman Matt Mulligan of Howland came off the bench to score 14 points and grab 12 rebounds in 17 minutes.

“One of the keys tonight was that everyone who stepped on the floor did something,” said Husson coach Warren Caruso, who also cited the second-half work of freshman Tyler Muzzy of Greenville, who contributed eight rebounds and three assists.

Didick, who last weekend became Mount Ida’s career scoring leader with more than 1,300 points, led the Mustangs with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Scott Chamberlain added 18 points, while Jesse Erskine, a 6-5 freshman from Boothbay, had 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

“I thought we played pretty well,” said Mount Ida coach Rico Cabral, whose Mustangs ended their season at 11-15 overall, 6-13 in NAC play. “In the second half they broke us down and had some easy scoring opportunities. They had a couple of putbacks on rebounds I thought we could have secured, and they defended well and got some scrappy points.”

BRAVES 80, MUSTANGS 68

Mount Ida (11-15) Husson (16-10)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Lopez 1 3 1 2 3 Beauregard 3 9

Didick 11 18 0 0 26 J. White 0 0

Chamberlain 6 15 5 6 18 Ailey 6 12 11 21

McGaughran 1 8 5 8 7 P. White 5 12 5 6 15

Erskine 5 13 1 3 12 Leavitt 5 12 17

Conyers 0 1 0 0 0 Mulligan 7 14 0 2 14

Gadles 1 4 0 0 2 Demuth 0 0 0

Orusubzabi 0 0 0 0 0 Franzose 0 0

Donahue 0 0 0 0 0 Ono 0 0 0

Muzzy 0 4 0 0

Grant 2 3 0 4

Totals 25 62 12 19 68 Totals 28 71 15 22 80

Mount Ida 43 68

Husson 44 80

3-pt. goals ? Mount Ida (6-19): Didick 4-8, Chamberlain 1-3, Erskine 1-4, Gadles 0-2, McGaughran 0-2; Husson (9-25): Leavitt 4-8, Beauregard 3-6, Ailey 2-4, P. White 0-1, Grant 0-1, Mulligan 0-1, J. White 0-2, Muzzy 0-2

Attendance: 500 (est.)