GORHAM, Maine – Junior Jacob Littlefield (Mechanic Falls, Maine/Poland) scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to highlight an outstanding offensive effort as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Saint Joseph's College Monks 74-58 in a non-conference men's basketball game to earn the Costello Cup Sunday evening at Hill Gymnasium.
With the win, Southern Maine secures the Costello Cup for the second consecutive season. Presented annually to the winner of the contest between the two schools, it has been contested over the last 26 seasons and honors the late Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach. Southern Maine, which improves to 2-3 with the win, has a 11-15 record in the series with Saint Joseph's. USM owns a 34-32 lead in the overall series between the two schools. Saint Joseph's falls to 1-3 with the loss.
Littlefield was 12-for-17 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point territory as USM shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field for the game. Junior Sean Caddigan (Bethel, Maine/Telstar) added 16 points and four assists with an outstanding 5-for-7 effort from three-point range. Juniors Jalen Lincoln (Nobleboro, Maine/Lincoln Academy) and Aaron Toman (Gardiner, Maine) added eight and seven points respectively.
SJC senior guard Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Maine/Bonny Eagle) led the Monks with 20 points and nine rebounds. Simonds was 7-for-14 from the field. Senior Zach Blodgett (Glenburn, Maine/Bangor) added 12 points, while Christien Morneweck (Burlington, Mass.) added 10 points.
In a nip-and-tuck first half, Southern Maine held a narrow lead over the Monks for a majority of the 20 minutes and the Huskies led 32-29 with 3:09 to play after Simonds sank one of his three three-pointers of the game. Southern Maine put its final three minutes of the opening stanza to good use however closing out the half on a 7-0 run as Littlefield had a dunk, lay-in and a three-pointer for a 39-29 USM lead at the break.
The Huskies maintained a comfortable lead in the opening minutes of the second half and led 43-37. The Monks had made it a two-possession game on a lay-in from freshman Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy), before the Huskies went on an 8-0 run to create some separation. Littlefield scored four points in the run.
After the 8-0 spurt, SJC never got any closer than nine points and the Huskies led by as many as 19 points late in the game for the win.
Southern Maine opens its Little East Conference slate on Saturday (3:00 p.m.) when it travels to Western Connecticut State. Saint Joseph's hosts Lasell in a GNAC contest on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.)
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
