BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University men's basketball team fell at the hands of the University of Maine-Presque Isle on Tuesday evening 75-67 in North Atlantic Conference action inside Newman Gymnasium.

Four lead changes early on led to an exciting start from Husson (15-4, 6-2 NAC) and UMPI (8-10, 4-4 NAC), as it was 9-8 Eagles after five minutes of action. An ensuing 11-2 run from Husson allowed it to stretch its advantage out to 20-10 midway through the opening frame. The Eagles were able to keep their edge at two possessions or more for the remainder of the first half and took a 30-25 lead into halftime.

Senior Jeremy Moronta paced a Husson scoring attack that saw every player who played get in the scoring column in the first 20 minutes of action. Moronta tallied eight points to go along with six rebounds, while fellow senior Jared Balser and junior Riles Neff each tallied four points with Neff adding seven rebounds.

Neither team shot efficiently in the low-scoring, defensive-minded first half, as the Eagles mustered just a 35% shooting clip to open Tuesday's contest, including just a 22% rate from beyond the arc. The stingy defense of Husson forced the Owls into 10 first-half turnovers, which turned into eight Eagle points.

After two scoreless minutes of play to open the final 20 minutes of action, UMPI continued to chip away at the Husson lead and took a 54-52 advantage of its own with just 6:46 to play. The Eagles were unable to get stops defensively down the stretch and the Owls handed Husson its first loss in NAC East Division play.

Neff and Moronta each tallied double-doubles to lead the Eagles, with Moronta tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds and Neff adding 17 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds, in addition to four assists. Balser and freshman Andre McCauley each contributed eight points to further Husson's offensive attack, while Balser added five rebounds.

While UMPI increased its shooting percentage to 50% for the game, the Eagles mustered just a 39% shooting percentage for the game, including just 3-18 from three-point range. The Owls additionally recorded 17 assists on their 28 made field goals, while Husson recorded just nine on its 26 made shots.

The Eagles will look to rebound this weekend as they play a back-to-back with rival Thomas College beginning on Friday in Waterville. Tip-off for this NAC contest is set for 5:30 p.m.