GORHAM, Maine – Senior Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) and sophomore Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) each scored 18 points to help lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 79-66 win over the Saint Joseph's College Monks on Wednesday night in Gorham's Hill Gym.
Dixon went 7-for-14 from the floor with a pair of three-points and also went 2-for-2 on free throws. Dixon also led the Huskies in rebounds with 6 and added three assists. Whelan hit every shot that he took, going 6-for-6 on field goals and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. The sophomore also logged a game-high four assists. Rookie Justin Allen (Franklin, Mass) scored 14 points and went 4-for-7 on three-pointers while classmate Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine) added nine.
The Records:
Saint Joseph's: 1-2
Southern Maine: 3-0
Series History: Today's contest is the 74th meeting between the Monks and the Huskies, dating back to the first contest on November 30, 1972 – a 66-62 win for Southern Maine. USM leads the overall series 38-36.
Costello Cup: Today's contest also marks the 33rd game in the Costello Cup series between the two schools. The Costello Cup is presented annually to the winner of the contest between the rival schools and honors the late Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach for both the men's and women's programs. SJC won the 2018 contest 83-79 and 2022 contest 72-52, while the Huskies claimed the 2019 cup 98-91, and the 2021 cup 86-74. SJC leads the Costello Cup series 19-14. USM has won three of the last four (2019, 2021, 2023).
How It Happened:
The Monks opened the scoring with a layup in the first two minutes before the Huskies had an 11-3 run to close out the first five minutes of play.
Southern Maine went up by as many as 10 points during the first half but the Monks kept chipping away and cut the lead to three before a late layup by Whelan put the Huskies up 36-31 at the break. Whelan had 11 points in the half to lead all players. Dixon added eight points.
The Huskies extended the lead to 11 over the first seven minutes of the second half with Allen draining a pair of threes during the stretch.
A 10-2 run by the Monks cut the lead to 54-51 with 10:11 left on the clock but the Huskies answered with a 9-2 run in which they made three-of-four free throw attempts. Sophomore Joe Longoria (New Braunfels, Texas) went 3-for-4 on free throws while senior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) made both his attempts for his first points of the season after missing the first two games. The run by the Huskies helped put the game out of reach as they held on for a 79-66 win.
Inside The Stats:
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The Monks went just 5-for-29 on three-pointers while the Huskies made 9-of-23 longball attempts.
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Saint Joseph's had the edge in rebounds at 31-23 and had 14 offensive boards. Remijo Wani was the game's top rebounder with nine and also had 13 points to lead his team.
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Wani Donato (12), John Paul Frazier (11), and Julian Llopiz (10) each scored in double figures for Saint Joseph's.
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Southern Maine shot 58.7 percent (27-for46) from the field, while Saint Joseph's shot 45.0 percent (27-for-60).
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The Huskies missed just one free throw (16-for-17) while the Monks went 7-for-11 on free throws.
Up Next:
The Huskies will play their first road game of the season on Saturday afternoon at Maine Maritime Academy (1:00 PM). Saint Joseph's will play at Husson University on Saturday (1:00 PM).
COURTESY OF USM SPORTS INFORMATION
