LYNDON CENTER, Vt. – The University of Maine at Farmington men’s basketball team fell to Lyndon State, 88-66 on Tuesday night in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) quarterfinals.
Charles Correa Jr. went 8-for-14 from behind the arc on his way to 31 points for the Hornets. Raymond Monroe came off the bench to hit six threes for 18 points while grabbing four rebounds. Darnay Gray was a force down low going 6-for-6 from the field, registering 15 points and four rebounds. Eric Vargas dished out a game-high nine assists.
Riley Robinson led three Beavers in double figures with 16 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Amir Moss and Issac Witham dropped 11 points apiece.
The Hornets were hot from the start as they jumped out to a 21-5 lead just over six minutes into the game. The Beavers were able to cut into the lead slightly but the Hornets turned up the defensive intensity and continued to hit from downtown, pushing the lead out to 35-15 with 4:55 left to play in the half.
The Beavers responded by scoring on the next four consecutive possessions to bring the score to 35-23. The teams traded baskets to finish out the first 20 minutes at 40-25 in favor of the Hornets.
A free throw from Jose Berroa (Lawrence, Mass.) and back-to-back treys from Correa pushed the lead quickly out to 47-25 at the start of the second half. However, over the next seven minutes the Beavers mounted a rally, outscoring the Hornets 20-10 to close the gap to 57-45 with 11:32 on the clock.
After two free throws from Correa, Moss scored five-straight points to bring the deficit to single digits at 59-50. The Hornets answered with a 19-7 run to stretch the gap back out for a 78-57 lead with 6:24 left in the game. The hosts held on from there to finish out the game with an 88-66 final score.
Lyndon shot 50.8 percent from the field, knocking down 17-of-33 from behind the arc, while UMF hit on 46.7 percent of their shots but only 20 percent from deep. Lyndon held a slim 33-31 rebound margin but dished out 21 assists to UMF’s nine.
Lyndon improves to 12-13 on the year while UMF finishes out the season 11-15.
