BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University men's basketball team is headed back to the North Atlantic Conference Championship game after it defeated rival University of Maine at Farmington 74-68 in an overtime thriller on Saturday afternoon inside an energetic Newman Gymnasium.

Husson (22-5) and Farmington (18-9) stuck true to their evenly-matched games during the regular season, which saw the two teams win on each other's home court, as at the first media timeout it was all-knotted up at 5 in a low-scoring, defensive battle.

The Eagles managed to score eight of the next 10 points in the opening frame to take a 13-7 advantage over the Beavers. Husson looked to have created some larger separation from Farmington later on in the first half, leading by as many as 12, but a 10-0 run from the Beavers to close the half sent the Eagles into the locker room with just a 30-29 edge.

Senior Jeremy Moronta led Husson with nine points in the opening half, in addition to seven rebounds, including four offensive boards. Junior Riles Neff utilized a strong free-throw shooting half to post seven points, adding four assists.

The two teams began what appeared to be the final 20 minutes the same way they began the game, trading buckets and trading leads, but it was once again Husson who utilized a short scoring spurt to create a bit of separation. With the score at 47-45 in favor of the Eagles, Husson would go on a mini 10-2 run to take an uncommon double-digit lead, including eight points from sophomore Eric Ahlers during the stretch.

As they had done all day, the Beavers would continue to battle, gradually chipping away at the Husson lead and eventually took a lead of their own with 2:25 remaining in regulation on a three-pointer from Zachary Mickle.

After giving up a free-throw spilt to Farmington and facing a 62-59 deficit with just under two minutes left, Moronta would take advantage of an isolation opportunity on the left wing and converted a reverse-layup with :55 seconds left to cut the Beaver lead to one and give the Eagles a puncher's chance.

Following a defensive stop on the ensuing Farmington possession, Neff would get fouled and cashed in on 1-2 free throws to tie the game up at 62-apiece. The Beavers would have one final chance to end regulation, but a step-back three from Mickle didn't fall and the teams would play an additional five minutes.

Neither team could gain an edge to begin the first four minutes of extra-time, but with Husson leading 68-66 and under 1:30 on the clock, the Eagles would get the stop that they needed. On the other end, Neff took advantage of a second-chance opportunity, as he used a ball-screen from Moronta on the top of the key and would make Farmington pay for going under the screen, as he drilled a dagger from beyond the arc to give Husson a 71-66 edge with :41 seconds remaining. 

The Beavers were able to cut the lead down to three, but clutch foul shooting from Moronta, who netted 3-4 down the stretch, would salt the game away and give the Eagles a chance to punch a ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament next weekend in the NAC Championship game.

Ahlers proved to be the difference off the bench for coach Caruso and company, as he poured in a career-high tying 22 points, including a hot 6-9 shooting clip from three-point land. Moronta played an all-around great floor-game for the Eagles, posting a 18-point, 14-rebound double-double, which tied his career-high on the glass.

Neff played through a tough shooting performance to tally 16 points and eight rebounds, in addition to four assists. Graduate student Derek Collin rounded-out the double-digit scoring, tallying 10 points, including three offensive-rebound putbacks to open the second half.

Husson's tough team-defense held strong as it has all season, limiting Farmington to just a 34% shooting percentage for the game, in addition to leading the rebounding category 49-37. The Eagles used the large rebounding edge to post a 27-11 margin in second chance points.

Husson will travel to SUNY Cobleskill next weekend to battle for its second NAC Title in three years. Tip-off for the conference championship game on Saturday will be announced this coming week.