BANGOR, Maine - Senior Justin Thompson of East Millinocket, Maine became the 52nd player in program history to score his 1,000th career point as the Husson University men's basketball team rallied from a 12 point first half deficit and fended off a late rally to defeat the University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls by the final score of, 84-81, in the Eagles' North Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Newman Gymnasium. With the victory, the Eagles win their ninth straight conference opener and improve 4-2 on the season while the Owls fall to 2-6 and 0-1 in the NAC. 

The Owls began the game on a 12-3 run which lasted nearly six minutes. The Eagles would chip into the lead slightly but struggled to get shots to fall which led to UMPI reaching a 32-20 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the half. From there, Husson would pick up the intensity on defense and turn it into offense as they entered the locker room on a 18-9 run to trail 41-38.

Husson would keep the intensity high to start the second half as they went on a five minute, 11-0 run that would give them the lead for the first time that they would not relinquish. The Eagles looked to break the game open for good with just under eight minutes to play when a layup from senior DJ Bussey put his team up by 16 points. The Owls would not go out quietly as they cut the lead to 12 points with two and a half minutes to play. A switch to a full court defense caught the Eagles off guard which was taken advantage of and the Owls cut the lead to three points with 40 seconds left. Bussey and senior J Thomas would hit free throws in the final seconds to hold off the Owls comeback bid.

HUSSON UNIVERSITY EAGLES STATS

• Bussey led the Eagles with 24 points including 19 in the second half. 

• Thompson not only hit the 1,000 point mark but scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

• Thomas chipped in 14 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.

• The bench for Husson scored 32 points while the Owls only had six points.

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT PRESQUE ISLE OWLS STATS

• Danyjoel Harris tallied a game high 32 points and eight rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and with eight converted free throws.

• Griffin Guerette added 26 points including 20 in the second half.

• The Owls outrebounded the Eagles by one, 43-42.

UP NEXT!

The Eagles head back out on the road on Wednesday, December 8th when they travel to Morrell Gymnasium for a non-conference tilt with the Polar Bears of Bowdoin College with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m.