Predicting how good a Husson College men’s basketball team is going to be based on one game in November is like predicting how much snow Maine will get for the entire winter based on a Thanksgiving week blizzard.

But after the Braves buried his team 101-70 Sunday afternoon at Husson’s Newman Gym in Bangor, College of St. Joseph’s coach Gordie Salls was ready to turn forecaster.

“This is a better Husson team than last year’s,” said Salls, referring to the Braves’ 27-10 NAIA tournament entry of a year ago, which beat his Saints of Rutland, Vt., three times. “They have more depth and they play together better.”

Husson Coach Bruce MacGregor (498 career wins and counting) wasn’t about to start making comparisons with past tournament teams at this time of year, even if his current squad is now 7-0. Still, he had to agree with Salls when it comes to the Braves’ depth.

“I don’t think we played as well as we’re capable,” said MacGregor, whose team shot 52 percent from the floor and outrebounded the visitors 49-22. “We weren’t consistent today. Our depth wore them down.”

Actually, what killed the Saints (2-3) was Husson’s depth coupled with a triangulated offensive attack from Braves starters Ray Alley (24 points), Jeff Shakoor (20 points, 14 rebounds), and Tiffin Ballou (17 points, 10 rebounds).

Alley, the 5-foot-9 junior guard, did his usual Tasmanian Devil imitation, spinning and firing up off-balance jumpers or driving hard to the rim. Shakoor, the 6-5 senior forward, ran the floor for three fastbreak slams and also picked up three buckets off offensive rebounds while prowling the paint. And Ballou, the 6-9 junior center, simply attacked the basket, shooting 6-for-8, including a pair of rim-rocking dunks.

Those three alone, however, weren’t enough to finish off a hard-nosed Saints outfit led by smooth, 6-3 senior forward Dennis Shelton (29 points, 12 rebounds). Jeff Davis, a 6-6 senior center, and 6-4 senior forward James Dowlearn both scored consistently inside on the way to 16 points apiece.

St. Joe’s problem came when it went to the bench. While MacGregor was rotating 12 players in and out, Salls was countering with only an eight-man rotation. Net result: Husson’s bench outscored the Saints subs 30-1.

The game was still close as late as 7:14 left in the first half, at which point Husson led 33-29. It was still a contest at intermission, at which point Husson led by 14 (54-40). MacGregor’s halftime talk consisted of a reminder to share the ball.

“I didn’t think we were playing together in the first half,” MacGregor said. “I thought we were too individual. So I said we should swing the ball more.”

The Braves came out swinging and reeled off a 10-2 run in the first 2:43 of the second period.

Scott Brown took a pass on the wing and drove for a finger roll, then scored a layup in transition off a Bryan Jefferson feed. Shakoor dumped in a layup off a Brown assist, and Ballou picked up a slam after a nice pass from Jefferson. Two Ballou free throws made it 64-42.

The rest was for the stat crew.

“I told our guys at halftime the first five minutes of the second half would tell the story, and it did,” said Salls. “They got on a roll and we couldn’t really stop them. I’m proud of my kids. They played hard.”

Braves 101, Saints 70

Husson men St. Joe’s (Vt.)

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Alley 17 9 4 3 24 Paul 6 1 0 0 2

Jefferson 1 1 0 0 2 Woods 6 3 0 0 6

Shakoor 16 10 0 0 20 Shelton 29 10 6 5 29

Ballou 8 6 6 5 17 Davis 10 7 4 2 16

Brown 16 4 1 0 8 Dowlearn 16 7 2 1 16

Mazurek 7 4 4 3 11 Ford 2 0 0 0 0

Drag’vic 5 3 0 0 6 Waller 2 0 0 0 0

Smith 5 1 0 0 2 O’D’herty 2 0 2 1 1

Toon 4 3 0 0 6

Belanger 3 1 0 0 2

Brichetto 1 1 0 0 3

Garay 0 0 0 0 0

Rice 0 0 0 0 0

Sinclair 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 83 43 15 11 101 Totals 73 28 14 9 70

Husson 54 101

St. Joseph’s (Vt.) 40 70

3-pt. goals: Husson (4-14): Alley 3-7, Brichetto 1-1, Brown 0-2, Mazurek 0-2, Shakoor 0-1, Belanger 0-1; St. Joseph’s (Vt.) (5-15): Shelton 4-6, Dowlearn 1-7, Paul 0-1, Ford 0-1