BANGOR – Every time the Husson College Eagles made a scoring run Monday night, the University of Maine-Farmington men had an answer.

Well, almost every time.

After throwing three sizable runs at the Beavers (13-2, 11-2, and 10-0) and watching them claw right back, Husson found the fourth time to be the charm en route to a 93-83 North Atlantic Conference victory at Newman Gymnasium.

Husson used an 18-6 run lasting 41/2 minutes and involving six different scorers in the last 91/2 minutes to seize a comfortable lead – and the momentum – for good.

“We got up by 10 or 12 points, but they kept battling back,” said Husson senior guard and Bucksport native Jason Harvey. “The main thing for us was getting up on them and pressuring the ball, plus we took care of the ball real well and took what the defense gave us.”

The Eagles, 13-5 overall and still unbeaten in conference play at 8-0, tallied 11 of their 14 steals in the first half, when the Beavers committed 17 of their 27 turnovers.

“We mixed in a little fullcourt pressure and did, at times, a good job in the halfcourt set,” said Husson coach Warren Caruso. “If you give up 83 points, I’m not sure it’s your best defensive effort, but we did force a lot of turnovers, capitalized on them, and found a pretty good flow offensively.”

Caruso wasn’t happy to see that the 8-10 Beavers (5-3 in the NAC) shot a scintillating 64.6 percent (31-for-48) from the field to Husson’s 44.9, but considering that shooting discrepancy and a 30-24 rebounding edge for the Beavers, he was very happy to get the win.

“We created the tempo we wanted and that was a big part of the game plan,” Caruso said. “But Farmington doesn’t go away. They do a good job of hanging around and grinding it out, no matter what kind of game it is.”

Freshman center Martin Cleveland of Portland was the epitome of consistency inside while leading the Eagles with 25 points, but he also made six steals. Both were game-highs.

“We knew double teams were coming if I got the ball open inside, so the diagonal would be open or I could kick it outside. They didn’t have an answer for everything, so we had to find something else sometimes,” said Cleveland, who had 12 points and four steals in the first half. “In the second half, I think they tried to front me more and have backside help, so I had to set more screens and be more active off the ball.”

Tyler Muzzy also turned in a solid all-around effort. The senior forward from Greenville had 24 points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Sophomore guard Fabian Figueroa scored 17 off the bench for the Eagles.

It resembled a track meet early on with the Eagles doing most of the sprinting. Harvey (22 points, five rebounds, four assists) got things going with three straight hoops – two of them 3’s – to put Husson up 22-12. UMF responded with its own one-man scoring exhibition as Isaac Hutchinson hit three straight baskets and scored eight points in an 11-2 run to cut Husson’s lead to one late in the first half.

Hutchinson got his third foul with 4:41 left in the first and then left the game for 10 minutes after getting his fourth with 15:27 left in the second half. Still, the junior forward from Oakland led UMF with 21 points. He also made three assists and two steals.

The Beavers were still able to stick around the Eagles and close the gaps, and even managed to make the Eagles sweat a bit in the last two minutes as they closed within six points with 1:20 to go. But UMF’s foul situation (12 to Husson’s five) took its toll as Husson hit seven of 10 foul shots and two Beavers fouled out down the stretch.

Junior Matt St. John scored 17 for UMF while Sean Fry finished with 15 points and seven boards. Ted Neil and Eric Lelansky scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, off the Beavers’ bench.

EAGLES 93, BEAVERS 83

UM-Farmington (8-10) Husson (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Tracy 2 2 0 0 4 Bradford 1 3

St. John 6 10 1 1 17 Kissinger 0 0

Fry 7 12 0 0 15 Muzzy 7 14 9 17 24

Tanguay 1 3 0 0 2 Clveland 10 13 5 7 25

Htchinson 7 9 6 7 21 Harvey 6 16 22

Lelansky 3 4 1 2 10 Figueroa 1 2

Kerschner 0 0 0 0 0 Lee 6 7 17

Nichols 0 0 0 0 0 MacKnzie 0 0

Neil 4 4 2 2 11 Cmmngs 0 1 0 0

Howell 1 3 0 0 2 Henry 0 1 0

Labrie 0 1 1 2 1

Totals 31 48 11 14 83 Totals 31 69 24 35 93

UM-Farmington 38 83

Husson 44 93

3-pt. goals – UM-Farmington (10-17): St. John 4-7, Lelansky 3-4, Fry 1-3, Hutchinson 1-2, Neil 1-1; Husson (7-28): Lee 3-4, Harvey 2-9, Muzzy 1-3, Bradford 1-5, Kissinger 0-4, Figueroa 0-2, Cummings 0-1

Attendance: 350 (est.)