BANGOR – So many times this season, Husson College’s men would find themselves on the precipice of victory only to wind up with a defeat due to lapses down the stretch.

The day would come, they kept telling themselves, when things would turn around.

That day came Wednesday as the Eagles turned their defensive intensity up a notch in the final five minutes, executed their offense almost flawlessly, and beat back a resilient University of Maine-Farmington team 80-75 at Newman Gym.

In the second game of the evening basketball doubleheader, the UMF women earned a measure of revenge by hammering Husson 95-53.

In the men’s game, the Eagles saw an eight point lead late in the first half and a tenuous lead early in the second turn into a seven-point deficit with 12 minutes left, but a balanced scoring effort directed inside helped them pull out a game which saw six lead changes over a 10-minute span in the second half.

“I think the key was our defense down the stretch,” said Husson senior forward Phil White, who helped pace the Eagles with 16 points.

A Husson defense that switched from man-to-man to zone to halfcourt trap harassed the Beavers into 14 turnovers in the second half and 24 overall, but it was Husson’s three defensive stops in the final three minutes that paved the way to a win Wednesday night.

“That’s been something that’s been an Achilles heal for us and we’ve spent a lot of time talking about it and working on it and today I thought we put together all the things we needed to on both ends of the floor, especially down the stretch,” said Husson head coach Warren Caruso.

After UMF took a 68-67 lead with 3:28 to play, Jason Harvey drew a foul and converted a three-point play to put the Eagles in the lead for good.

Husson improves to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in North Atlantic Conference play.

With the Eagles reaching the double-bonus with 3:43 left, Husson pounded it inside the rest of the way, drawing seven fouls and shooting 11-for-13 from the line.

“They’re a good team and they fought hard,” said Buddy Leavitt, who finished with a game-high 26 points. “They wanted it bad, but we did a better job down the stretch.”

Tyler Muzzy, a junior forward from Greenville, was tough inside early with eight of his 10 total rebounds coming in the first half. He finished with a double-double, adding 10 points.

The Beavers, now 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the NAC, outrebounded the Eagles 43-33 overall and outshot them 50.9 to 38.5 percent, but got to the foul line just three times in the last 51/2 minutes and hit only one of six foul shots in that span.

Travis Carrier, a senior from Auburn, led the Beavers with a double-double (18 points and 13 rebounds). Wayne native and sophomore guard Matt St. John, who’s filling the starting spot vacated when Trafton Teague tore his anterior cruciate ligament the first week of the season, had 18 points.

Senior guard Travis Magnusson of Thomaston had seven points and a 10 assists for UMF while Matt Nichols had nine points and 10 boards.

In the women’s game, the defensive pressure generated by UMF fueled a potent offense and transition game, and was too much for Husson to handle as the Eagles were forced into 32 turnovers while UMF outshot them 52.9 to 36.7 percent.

“Defensively, we’re just trying to put as much pressure on the ball as we can and wear teams down,” said head coach Jamie Beaudoin, whose Beavers improve to 9-3 overall and 5-1 in NAC play.

Kari Simpson was in the lead as five UMF players finished with 10 points or more. The junior forward from Wells had 20 points, 17 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

“She did a great job on the glass,” Beaudoin said. “She’s a great player and a great passer, but tonight it was her rebounding that really stood out.”

Meaghan Cyr of Howland had 14 points and five steals for UMF. Melissa Sawyer of Oakland finished with 12 points and five boards. Karen Sirois and Brandi Rideout each scored 10.

Jodie Merchant (19 points, eight rebounds) and Annie McIntosh (11 points, eight rebounds) led Husson (3-10, 2-5).

EAGLES 80, BEAVERS 75

UM-Farmington (6-5) Husson (6-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Mgnusson 3 8 1 2 7 Heath 0 2 4

St. John 6 14 0 0 18 Muzzy 2 12 10

Htchinson 4 10 0 2 8 Harvey 2 6 9

Labrie 2 6 4 8 8 White 8 13 16

Carrier 8 12 2 3 18 Leavitt 8 19 26

Jones 0 0 0 0 0 Figueroa 1 3

Tracy 1 2 0 2 2 Kissinger 1 5

Nichols 3 3 3 4 9 Lee 2 4 5

Drillen 0 0 0 0 0 Philbrick 0 0

McIver 2 2 1 2 5 Henry 1 2 2

Totals 29 57 11 23 75 Totals 25 65 22 29 80

UM-Farmington 41 75

Husson 44 80

3-pt. goals – UMF (6-15): St. John 6-12, Tracy 0-1, Hutchinson 0-2; Husson (8-26): Leavitt 6-14, Harvey 1-3, Lee 1-3, Figueroa 0-1, Muzzy 0-1, Heath 0-2, Kissinger 0-2

Attendance: 300 (est.)

BEAVERS 95, EAGLES 53

UM-FARMINGTON (9-3) HUSSON (3-9)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cyr 5 7 1 1 14 Ballard 1 7 1 3

Rideout 3 6 2 2 10 Archer 0 4 0

Simpson 7 14 5 6 20 Merchant 7 16 2 2 19

Sawyer 4 9 3 3 12 Barden 2 5 6

Sirois 4 5 0 1 10 Rollins 4 10 8

Byrne 1 2 1 4 3 Colgan 0 2 0

Boyd 0 4 0 0 0 Allen 0 0 0 0

Wiley 3 7 0 2 8 Noyes 2 3 4

Johnson 2 4 0 2 4 Monck 0 3 0

Porter 3 4 0 0 6 McIntosh 5 11

Berry 1 2 0 0 2 Dow 1 1 2

McDnough 0 0 0 0 0 Hall 0 3 0

Wyman 1 1 0 0 2

Ross 2 3 0 0 4

Totals 36 68 12 21 95 22 60 53

UM-Farmington 43 95

Husson 29 53

3-pt. goals – UMF (11-25): Cyr 3-5, Wiley 2-3, Sirois 2-3, Rideout 2-4, Sawyer 1-1, Simpson 1-4, Byrne 0-1, Wiley 0-2, Johnson 0-2; Husson (3-19): Merchant 3-5, Archer 0-2, Rollins 0-2, Monck 0-2, Barden 0-3, Ballard 0-5

Attendance: 100 (est.)