photo courtesy of athletics.husson.edu
By: Chris Czachor, Student Journalist
BANGOR—The Husson University men’s basketball team defeated the Bowdoin College Polar Bears on Tuesday night in a non-conference game at Husson’s Newman Gymnasium by the score of 93-72. Lucas Hausman of Bowdoin led all scorers in the game with 28 points, while Husson shooting guard Raheem Anderson led Husson with 22 points.
Anderson also had plenty of help from his teammates. Eli Itkin, Trevon Butler, and Darryl Wood all put up double digit scoring numbers as well. Eagles head coach Warren Caruso was not surprised by his team’s well rounded performance.
“We really believe in all our guys. Raheem Anderson and Trevon Butler kind of lead the way, but everyone else plays off them,” said Caruso.
The Eagles improved to 15-4 on the season with the win, which was their fourth straight. With the loss, Bowdoin’s record fell to 9-8. Bowdoin still has the upper-hand in the head to matchup against Husson with an all-time record of 5-2.
Husson jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, but Bowdoin battled back to gain their first lead of the game when Tim Ahn sunk a three-pointer with 10:44 remaining in the first half. The lead did not last for long, as Itkin nailed a shot from beyond the arc with 9 minutes left in the first half to put Husson on top 26-28. Bowdoin did not regain the lead for the rest of the game, and were held scoreless for the next four minutes of play. Husson entered the locker room at halftime ahead by the score of 45-31.
The Eagles picked up where they left off, in the second half, extending their lead to 28 points with less than five minutes remaining. Itkin recorded three of his four three-pointers in the second half. Seeing the writing on the wall, both teams took the opportunity to rest their starters at the end of the game. The Eagles finished on top 93-72.
One of the keys to the game for Husson was their bench depth. The Eagles bench produced 42 points in the game, while the Bowdoin bench put up 23 points. The Eagles also played unselfishly, recording 21 assists, which was 14 more than Bowdoin had.
Positive takeaways of this game for Bowdoin were the performances of Lucas Hausman and Hugh O’neil. Hausman converted on all 10 of his free throws en route to 28 total points. O’neil recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The points and the rebounds were both personal bests for O’neil.
Although the win will not count towards Husson’s conference record, coach Caruso believes that non-conference games are just as important for his team.
“Our non-conference opponents are really important when we get to the end of the season from a value standpoint of our schedule, and if we are fortunate enough to go to the NCAA’s, all those things add up,” said Caruso.
Husson will return to NAC play on Friday, February 5th when they host Lyndon State. Bowdoin’s next game is also on Friday at Hamilton.
Video: https://youtu.be/ndMGSDEZDwU
