BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University men's basketball team used a 25-point performance from senior Riles Neff to earn an 82-74 win over Maine Maritime Academy on Wednesday night at Newman Gymnasium.

Husson (3-5, 1-0 NAC) got off to a quick start offensively against Maine Maritime's (3-3, 0-1 NAC) 2-3 zone defense, as the Eagles connected on four three-pointers early on and got eight points from graduate student Jeremy Moronta to jump out to an 18-8 lead just over five minutes in.

The Mariners used a 9-0 run to get back within three of Husson with 9:41 left, but with its lead at 33-30 with just under eight minutes left, Husson would use a 7-0 scoring outburst of its own to regain a double-digit edge.

Maine Maritime would close the half strongly, as a jumper from Jack Banks with just over a minute left brought the Mariners to within four and would send the game to the halftime break at 45-41 in favor of Husson.

The Mariners continued their late first-half momentum into the beginning of the second half, as they opened on a 10-2 run and grabbed their biggest lead of four points on a three-pointer from Markus Ramirez.

The Eagles once again answered the run from Maine Maritime, as another 7-0 run gave them the lead back. After once again falling behind on a jumper from Banks to make the score 59-58, Husson went on a 14-4 run with Neff, junior Gil Matondo and graduate student Scott Lewis leading the charge, to put the Eagles back up by nine.

That late run proved to be the difference-maker, as the Mariners couldn't manage to get back into the contest and Husson would come away with the win.

Neff's 25 points during the contest led all scorers, as the senior shot 8-15 from the floor, including 4-7 from beyond the arc.

Freshman Connor Heald provided a spark off the bench, as he poured in 12 on an efficient 5-7 shooting, while Matondo and Moronta each added 10.

Lewis added seven points of his own, in addition to a career-high nine assists, while as a team the Eagles recorded 22 dimes.

As a unit, Husson shot nearly 47% from the floor, including 40% from three-point range, while winning the rebounding-battle 37-30 and forcing the Mariners into 13 turnovers.

The Eagles converted those 13 Maine Maritime turnovers into 21 points, while only committing six giveaways of their own.

Husson will look to improve to 2-0 in NAC play when it travels to Thomas College for a 3 p.m. showdown on Saturday.