BANGOR – Husson College is fielding a lot of young, inexperienced players early during the 2007-08 basketball season.

Monday night, the Eagles showed they have some clutch performers on the ballclub.

Freshman Nicole Lincoln of Dixmont drained two clutch 3-pointers during a critical 12-0 scoring run down the stretch, helping Husson rally for a 76-72 North Atlantic Conference women’s basketball victory over the University of Maine-Farmington at Newman Gym.

Coach Kissy Walker’s Eagles (3-3) erased a 13-point, second-half deficit with tenacious defense, aggressive rebounding and good offensive execution, posting an important early-season win.

“We really wanted to win this one,” said junior forward Shelby Bradford of Lee, who led the Eagles with a game-high 18 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

“It was a big win. They [UMF] were predicted to win the conference again and we had a rough start playing some really tough teams, so it’s good to come out and start to win some games.”

In the men’s contest, senior forward Sean Fry poured in 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to power UMaine-Farmington to an 83-73 victory over Husson.

Coach Jamie Beaudoin’s UMF women appeared to be in control leading 70-62 with 6:17 to play. However, the Eagles finally put it all together.

Sophomore Ashley Bragdon of Newport took a wrap-around pass underneath from Bradford and scored to open the game-breaking 12-0 spurt.

Bradford followed with two free throws, then made a steal that led to the first of Lincoln’s 3-pointers, cutting the Beavers’ lead to 70-69 with 3:00 left.

Laura Archer of Ellsworth kept the run going with two foul shots, then Lincoln made a steal and later in the possession took an inside-out pass from Alyssa Bragdon for another 3-pointer to give Husson all the momentum.

Samantha Wiley of Lincolnville countered with two free throws for UMF (3-5), which didn’t score again.

Bradford’s basket from underneath off an Alyssa Bragdon lob pass provided the margin of victory with 44 seconds left.

“We haven’t beaten them in a while, so it was really nice to get that one,” Walker said.

“It’s a great confidence-builder for us,” she added.

Jenny Rollins of Corinth provided 17 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, who outrebounded the Beavers 43-32. Ashley Bragdon added nine points and eight rebounds.

Caitlyn Laflin of Farmingdale paced the Beavers (3-5) with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Erin Porter of Bangor netted 13 points, while Wiley and Ashley Busque of Belgrade chipped in with 12 points each. Amanda Byrne of Winslow registered eight assists.

In the men’s game, Fry got UMF off to a scoring start on the offensive end, connecting for 23 first-half points on a variety of inside moves and long-range shots, as the Beavers earned a big NAC road win.

Fry dominated in the first half for coach Dick Meader’s Beavers, who held off a determined second-half charge by the Eagles to secure the victory.

“Fry set a pretty good tone,” Meader said of the rugged 6-foot-4 forward from Jay, who hit five 3-pointers. “He just couldn’t miss.”

UMF (5-3) led by as many as 15 points early (28-13) as Fry scored 25 points in the first 14 minutes. Even so, the Beavers were forced to fend of repeated challenges by the Eagles (3-3).

Husson eventually rallied to take a 54-53 lead on a Matt McKenzie rebound basket with 14:12 remaining, but two Matt St. John 3-pointers helped UMF regain the momentum.

With the game tied 59-59 and 11:38 left, the Beavers put together a decisive 9-0 scoring run to take the lead for good.

Pat Howell opened it with a foul shot, then hit a 16-foot jumper off a loose ball. Fry made both shots after a technical foul was assessed to Husson coach Warren Caruso, then Isaac Hutchinson made a 14-footer from the baseline and Eric Lelansky threw in an eight-foot runner to give UMF a 68-59 advantage with 8:12 to play.

“The last three halves of basketball we’ve played, we’ve struggled to find some consistency in our offensive end and I think that’s kind of filtered back to our defense,” Caruso said. “I don’t think that we have that much margin for error when we play and as a result we’ve lost our last two.”

UMF got 14 points from Hutchinson and 11 points from Andrew Dean and outrebounded Husson 38-32.

Scott Kissinger tossed in 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Eagles, who were without junior guard Fabian Figueroa, who was serving the third game of a five-game suspension for a violation of the student conduct code.

Sheraud Lee posted 12 points with four assists, while Brock Bradford of Kenduskeag dished out seven assists but struggled to a 3-for-14 shooting effort.

The Beavers stormed to a 28-13 advantage in the first eight minutes. UMF attacked the basket effectively and mixed in some inside-out plays while taking the upper hand.

Fry went 9-for-14 in the half but wound up sitting out the last 6:03 after picking up his second foul, but UMF still led 44-36 at the break.

EAGLES 76, BEAVERS 72

UM-Farmington (3-5) Husson women (3-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Porter 5 7 1 2 13 Bradford 7 13 4 4 18

Bryne 2 7 2 6 8 Barden 0 2 0

Wiley 4 11 3 4 12 Al.Bragdn 3 7

Laflin 4 11 5 5 13 Rollins 6 16 17

Johnson 4 5 0 1 8 Ah.Brgdn 4 11 1 2 9

Bell 2 2 0 0 5 Sewell 1 5 1 3

Busque 4 7 2 2 12 Norswrthy 0 0

Page 0 1 0 0 0 Lincoln 2 6 0 6

York 0 1 0 0 0 Blindow 0 2 0 0

Davis 0 1 0 0 0 Archer 1 5 5

Ross 0 3 1 2 1 Barnes 1 1 0 2

Richards 1 1 4

Plourde 1 2 0 3

Lavertu 0 0 2 2

Totals 25 56 14 22 72 Totals 27 72 15 22 76

UM-Farmington 44 72

Husson 36 76

3-pt. goals – UMF (8-20): Porter 2-4, Byrne 2-5, Wiley 1-3, Laflin 0-1, Bell 1-1, Busque 2-3, Page 0-1, Davis 0-1, Ross 0-1; Husson (7-28): Barden 0-2, Bragdon 1-5, Rollins 3-9, Lincoln 2-6, Blindow 0-1, Archer 0-3, Plourde 1-2

BEAVERS 83, EAGLES 73

UM-Farmington (5-3) Husson men (3-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Dean 3 8 4 5 11 Meehan 4 8 0 8

St. John 2 7 0 1 5 Bradford 3 14 2 2 8

Fry 12 20 6 8 35 Kissinger 8 14 22

Tanguay 4 4 0 0 9 MacKnzie 4 8

Hutchnson 4 9 4 4 14 Lee 3 9 12

Lelansky 2 6 0 1 4 Perras 2 4 7

Kerschner 0 0 0 0 0 Kane 0 1 0

Neil 0 4 0 0 0 Jardine 0 0 0 0

Howell 1 2 3 4 5 Cummngs 0 0 0

Labrie 0 0 0 0 0 Coffin 1 4 3

Henry 2 3 1 5

Totals 28 60 17 23 83 Totals 27 63 14 18 73

UM-Farmington 44 83

Husson 36 73

3-pt. goals – UMF (10-22): Fry 5-8, Hutchinson 2-3, Dean 1-1, Tanguay 1-1, St. John 1-5, Neil 0-1, Lelansky 0-3; Husson (5-28): Meehan 0-2, Bradford 0-7, Kissinger 4-8, Lee 0-4, Perras 0-2, Kane 0-1, Coffin 1-3, Henry 0-1