BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University men's basketball team got a season-high tying 27 points from graduate student Jeremy Moronta, but couldn't get past a hot-shooting Colby College team on Tuesday evening, falling 97-81 in non-conference action at Newman Gymnasium.
Husson (12-7) would gain possession of the first lead of the game on a layup from Moronta on the game's first possession, but its 19 seconds with the lead would be its only time in front for the contest.
Colby (11-6) quickly answered Moronta's layup with one of its 15 three-point field goals for the game, as the Mules connected on four of their first five three-point shots to jump out to a 19-11 lead.
The Eagles got the lead down to five coming out of a timeout, but another quick 11-2 outburst from the Mules, which saw them connect on three more shots from beyond the arc, forced Husson into a timeout with the score at 30-16 and just under 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Colby continued to grow its lead in the second part of the opening half, leading by as many as 20 on two separate occasions, but the Eagles were able to shave just a little off the deficit to go into halftime down 45-30.
Husson showed a lot of fight in the second half, getting within 10 of the Mules five different times in the final 20 minutes, even after falling behind by as many as 24 midway through the half.
The Eagles put together a final push with about four minutes left, but an instant 6-0 run from Colby, which was punctuated by an emphatic dunk from Jack Lawson, would put the game away and send Husson to its second-consecutive loss.
Moronta's game-high of 27 led the Eagles on the night, as the Brooklyn native shot 11-18 from the floor and also hauled in five rebounds and dished out six assists.
Junior Ty Henke came off the bench to contribute 14 points, while sophomore Tope Alao and graduate student Scott Lewis each posted 10 points, while Alao added three steals and Lewis rejected three shots.
As a team, Husson shot 45.7% from the floor for the game, including nearly 53% in the second half, while also connecting on 11 of 14 free throw attempts.
The Eagles will look to snap their brief two-game losing skid on Saturday when they welcome the University of Maine at Farmington to Newman Gymnasium for a pivotal North Atlantic Conference matchup scheduled for 3 p.m.
