Beavers defense carries them to quarterfinal win

FARMINGTON, Maine -- The third-seeded University of Maine at Farmington men's basketball team survived a second-half rally by No. 6 Maine Maritime Academy to take a 58-53 North Atlantic Conference quarterfinal victory over the Mariners tonight at Dearborn Gymnasium.

The Beavers (13-11) advance to take on No. 2 Husson University (14-11) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. on Friday at Thomas College. The Mariners ended their season at 9-17.

Eric Taylor (Oakland, ME) tallied 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Beavers, while Andrew Dean (Gorham, ME) chipped in 10 points. Taylor was seven of seven from the field.

The Beavers held a 35-22 advantage at intermission and expanded the lead to 44-28 with 13:19 left in the contest, but the Mariners responded with a 13-1 run to get back into the game. Maine Maritime slimmed the lead to 50-49 with 2:10 remaining in the contest, a Taylor layup and a Ted Neil (Strong, ME) block on the following possession helped Farmington hold the command.

Dean knocked down four of four free throws and DJ Gerrish (Rumford, ME) converted a pair of foul shots in the final 20 seconds to claim the victory. Both teams took care of hitting their foul shots with Maine Maritime stroking 17 of 21 (81 percent) and Farmington 14 of 16 (87.5).

Derek DiFrederico (Millinocket, ME) paced the Mariners with 15 points, including eight of 10 freebies, with Jake Manner (Frankfort, ME) adding 10 points.

Farmington stifled MMA over the first half, limiting the visitors to 25 percent shooting (six of 24) in the opening frame. Meanwhile, the Beavers connected on 13 of 30 shots (43.3 percent) as Taylor scored 13 of his points in the first half to help the hosts to a 13-point cushion.

Both teams slogged their way through the opening half with a Dean 3-pointer giving the Beavers a 16-point command 6:41 after intermission. Bryant Ciomei (Stonington, ME) responded with a three to start a 13-1 tear by the Mariners. The MMA bench -- two treys by Ciomei and two baskets by Sam Bell (Calais, ME) helped the Mariners trim the lead to 45-41 with 7:14 left in the game.

The Mariners knocked the lead down to three points or less on three occasions in the final four minutes, but the Beavers staved off each attempt to tie to hold on for the 58-53 win.