FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington continues its winning ways on Saturday afternoon after beating Johnson State in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action by a score of 78-71.
The Beavers improve to 8-10 on the year and 7-5 in the NAC while moving into fourth place in the conference standings and Johnson State fell to 7-12 overall and 4-8 in the conference.
UMF’s Tyus Ripley and Amir Moss tied for game high 18 points, shooting a combined 14-21, 8-8 at the free throw line, 11 rebounds and six assists. Riley Robinson added 17 points on 7-17 shooting, 1-4 from behind the arc with eight rebounds and four assists. Eric Berry came in off the bench with to score 12 points all in the second half, also notched eight rebounds.
Kawaun Chavis led the way for the Badgers with 15 points, shooting 5-8 from the floor and 4-5 from three-point land. Jeyquan Johnson finished with 14 points, shooting 6-14 from the floor while Benjamin Holl added 13 points.
The first half opened up with seesaw action as neither team could get a manageable lead. UMF held the first lead of the game that was more than two points at the 11:46 mark with a lead of four (16-12).
The Badgers would battle back to tie the game up at 22 when Jordan Singleton made a layup followed by an Issac Witham jumper to give the Beavers the lead once again. Johnson State went on a 7-0 run in the next three minutes to take the lead at 27-24 and out scored UMF 15-4 in the final three minutes of the half to take a 35-30 lead at half time.
The Badgers opened up the second half with a quick three pointer from Benjamin Holl to push their lead to eight but the Beavers would come right back down the floor and hit back to back jumpers to close the gap.
Just under 12 minutes to play, Moss hit a layup that gave the Beavers a 55-54 lead. The Beavers continued to stay hot and close out the game on a 27-17 run.
The Beavers will head to Bates on Tuesday, Jan. 31 with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
