BANGOR – There were no playoff ramifications and it wasn’t a conference game, but Wednesday night’s game between NCAA Division III foes Husson College and the University of Southern Maine might as well have been a blood feud.

The intensity was evident right from the opening tip in USM’s 84-79 win as both talented-but-struggling squads were looking for a spark heading into conference play.

It didn’t hurt that it was the first game between the teams since sophomore guard Andy Frost transferred from Husson to USM early in preseason.

In a game in which neither team led by more than five points for the first 21 minutes, the teams traded big runs twice in the last 15 minutes before USM left with its victory.

“Neither one of these teams wanted to lose this,” said head coach Warren Caruso after his Eagles fell to 4-6. “It was a momentum game for both of us.”

The men gave USM a sweep over Husson as the women – the nation’s top-ranked Division III team – made it look easy by winning 81-43.

In the men’s game, the last scoring run was the winning one as the Huskies erased a 59-49 deficit with 111/2 minutes left, tied it with 5:09 left, and started a 9-0 run with 3:49 to go that put them ahead 78-73 with 1:32 left.

Husson scored two straight hoops to get within one with 32 seconds left, but the Huskies, who were in the double bonus, hit all six foul shots while Husson shot 1-for-5 from the field the rest of the way.

Senior forward Jesse McKinnell fueled the run with two hoops from the paint and a foul shot, but a 25-foot 3-pointer by former Portland High star Walter Phillips (13 points, eight rebounds, four assists) with 21/2 minutes left was a big spark.

Frost, a sophomore guard from Brewer who matched up with former teammate Jason Harvey (nine points, five boards, four assists) helped USM reverse momentum after Husson went up 59-49 by hitting three straight hoops – one a 3-pointer near the top of the key – to pull USM within four.

“It was good coming up here and playing in this gym,” said Frost. “I like this gym. It’s a pretty friendly gym.”

Frost helped lead the Huskies with 13 points, three steals and a game-high six assists.

“He made some big set calls down the stretch for us and he’s just a tireless defender,” said head coach Karl Henrickson, whose Huskies are 7-5. “I know he wanted to play well coming back here.. and he did.”

Josh Daniels led USM with 19 points and Bill Hardwick of Boothbay scored 18.

Tyler Muzzy, a junior forward from Greenville, led Husson with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Phil White had 17 and nine, respectively.

In the women’s game, what was surely one of those circle-the-date-on-the-calendar games for the Eagles became a date that may as well live in infamy as USM not only took a big lead early, but made it almost impossible for the Eagles to score.

The Huskies prevented the Eagles from generating any inside game the entire first half, kept them scoreless for the first 11 minutes, 16 seconds and didn’t allow a basket until 16:34 had elapsed.

The Huskies of Gorham, who beat Husson 77-23 in the Maine Event tournament last week, scored 15 unanswered points to start the game.

“It’s been a tough week playing them twice and then Bowdoin,” said Husson coach Kissy Walker. “Hopefully it’s all a lot easier after this.”

The 11-1 Huskies were led by former Woodland High star Ashley Marble. The senior forward had a game-high 15 points along with eight rebounds and four steals. She led a group of 14 players who scored at least two points. Freshman guard Lindsey Welch from Newport had six points, five steals and three assists.

The 3-8 Eagles were paced by junior Carmen Ballard of Skowhegan, who scored 14. Jenny Rollins added nine points and seven boards.

The Huskies outrebounded Husson 40-30 overall and made 17 steals to help force 32 Eagles turnovers while committing 14 themselves.

“We’re not going to see that kind of pressure again all season,” said Walker.

HUSKIES 81, EAGLES 43

Southern Maine (11-1) Husson (3-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cowing 2 3 2 2 6 Ballard 2 5 10 14

Sibley 2 7 1 1 6 Archer 1 4 3

Marble 6 11 2 3 15 Merchant 1 3

Frost 1 5 0 0 3 Noyes 0 4 0

Myles 3 5 0 0 6 Rollins 2 6 9

Welch 2 4 0 0 6 Colgan 3 5 7

Thibaudu 0 2 0 0 0 Barden 1 3 2

Patti 1 2 0 0 2 Monck 0 0 0

Ross 3 8 2 2 9 McIntosh 0 1 1

Sylvain 1 3 0 0 2 Dow 2 4 4

Kent 1 5 0 0 2 Hall 0 0 0 0

Kynoch 2 7 4 4 8

Santa Fe 1 5 4 4 7

O’Tash 0 1 1 2 1

Welch 2 3 0 1 4

Samuelsn 2 3 0 0 4

Totals 29 74 16 19 81 Totals 12 41 15 23 43

Southern Maine 40 81

Husson 17 43

3-pt. goals – USM (7-20): Welch 2-3, Marble 1-1, Frost 1-2, Ross 1-3, Sibley 1-4, Santa Fe 1-4, Cowing 0-1, Patti 0-1, Kent 0-1; Husson (4-14): Ballard 2-2, Rollins 1-3, Archer 1-4, Colgan 0-1, Barden 0-1, Merchant 0-3

HUSKIES 84, EAGLES 79

Southern Maine (7-5) Husson men (4-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Frost 4 5 3 4 13 Kissinger 1 2

Daniels 6 14 5 6 19 Heath 4 8 12

McKinnell 3 7 1 1 7 Harvey 3 12 9

Phillips 4 10 3 4 13 White 8 16 17

Hardwick 6 6 3 3 18 Leavitt 5 18 16

Oakley 2 7 2 3 6 Figueroa 0 0

Randall 0 0 0 0 0 Lee 2 3 5

Hebert 2 2 2 4 8 Muzzy 3 9 10 12 18

Henry 0 1 0 0

Totals 27 51 19 25 84 26 73 17 22 79

USM 33 84

Husson 36 79

3-pt. goals – USM (11-22): Hardwick 3-3, Hebert 2-2, Frost 2-3, Phillips 2-4, Daniels 2-6, Oakley 0-4; Husson (10-32): Heath 4-8, Leavitt 3-10, Muzzy 2-6, Harvey 1-5, Kissinger 0-1, Figueroa 0-1, Lee 0-1

Attendance: 237