PRESQUE ISLE, ME
The Owl's Men's team saw its six game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the best team in the conference: University of Maine at Farmington. Though things were much more competitive than the last time they met, the Beavers were able to ride a slim first half lead to a 15-point victory.
How it Happened:
The Owls and Beavers got off to a very back and forth start as they traded blows for the first five minutes. UMPI went on a six-nothing run to go up 15-11, as the gym came to life, capped off by a corner three from sharpshooting James Yamashita. Unfortunately for UMPI, it would be their last lead of the day. Farmington hit a three a minute later, as scoring came to a crawl. Four minutes later, another three gave UMF a 17-15 lead. Farmington would not relinquish it the rest of the game, though UMPI came close. The Beavers grew it to 28-19 with just under six minutes, but the Owls responded going on a 9-2 run to come back within a possession at 30-28. In what became some of the most consequential stretches of the game, the Owls failed to take momentum into halftime by retaking the advantage. The Beavers won the final minute 5-0 to take a seven point locker room lead.
In the second half, the energy of the game reached a low-point as team's adjusted to the scrappy, physical play with slower possessions. Farmington flirted with a double digit lead early on, growing it to 14 points at 44-30 with 17 minutes to go. The Owls fought and clawed to stay in it, after cutting it to a single digit game for the first time since the beginning of the second half at 51-42 with 10:53 to play thanks to a Tyson Enget three. Yuki Ishibashi accomplished the same thing a minute later keeping at nine points, but the Beavers always responded to keep UMPI away from them. The Owls shooting kept them in it for a moment when Ishibashi nailed another trey to make it 61-53 with under seven to play, but that was as close as UMPI would have it for a while. The Beavers did what the great teams do and closed the game out, never giving UMPI an opportunity in the final five minutes. In the end it was a 77-62 final.
Top Performers:
AJ Creech led the Owls for the first time this year with 11 points as he knocked down three triples. Akhe McMichael was next with 10 points as well as nine rebounds as the 6'0 guard led UMPI on the glass. Doug McCalla and Yuki Ishibashi each had eight points for UMPI.
Next Up:
UMPI drops to 7-6 in conference and 8-11 on the season. They will play their last non-conference game on Tuesday evening at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. The Owls and Bengals will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in Fort Kent.
