GORHAM, MAINE

The UMPI Men's Basketball team took to the floor for the first time this season. They took on the University of Southern Maine Huskies, a team with which they've had their due battles over recent years. Unfortunately for the Owls, history was doomed to repeat itself as they dropped another close one, falling by four points in the end. They've now lost the last three meetings with the Huskies by four points or less.

The Owls took control midway through the first half, shooting the lights out, at 64.7% from the field as a team in the first 20 minutes. At the half, they held an 11-point lead 55-44. It would however, become a tale of two halves.

USM slowly chipped away at the lead in the second half and had erased the deficit at exactly 10 minutes to go. USM maintained their lead the rest of the way, despite UMPI coming within one point at 92-91 with 1:38 to play. The Huskies were able to ice the game out and ultimately prevailed 100-96.

The key performer for the Owls was Akhe McMichael who led UMPI in the scoring column with his 32 points. McMichael had four three-pointers and shot 12-18 overall. He also grabbed six rebounds. Dwaine Williams had 18 points with four boards, while Doug McCalla had 14 and five.

The Owls went four deep into their bench in the high scoring affair. Despite the slight second-half regression, the Owls still managed to shoot 55.1% from the field as a team.

UMPI falls to 0-1 on the year and will look for their first win on Tuesday when they travel to take on University of Maine at Augusta.