BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guard Alex Kee (Bath, Maine) went 7-for-11 from the floor, en route to a game-high 18 points as the Southern Maine men's basketball team defeated Wentworth, 71-60, in a non-conference contest at Tansey Gymnasium.
Kee, who connected on his first five shots of the game, including breaking a 2-2 tie early by scoring five straight points. After a 3-pointer from Leopard junior guard Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) cut the lead down to two, the Huskies went on a 14-1 run over the next 7:40 and took a 21-6 lead on a pair of free throws from Kee.
A senior guard Adam Dombrowski (Dunstable, Mass.) 3-pointer with 10:22 left was Wentworth's first field goal in a span of 7:47 and the hosts would eventually cut the lead to eight on a freshman forward Bo Leary (Auburn, Maine) layup with 6:25 left in the half.
The Huskies used a 10-2 run to take a 35-19 lead with 2:00 left when Kee hit one of two free throws and led by 18 (37-19) at the break. Over the first 20:00 Southern Main shot 61.5 percent from the floor and held the hosts to 25.8 percent.
A 5-1 Wentworth spurt to open the second half trimmed the lead to 14, but Southern Maine went on an 11-2 run to open the game up.
The Leopards found themselves down by 24 with 3:34 left but pulled within striking range by going on a 14-2 run and trimming the lead in half with 1:21 left, but would get no closer than 10.
Senior forward Jeremy Jackson (Laplace, La.) added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while sophomore guard Brandon Tomah (Princeton, Maine) had eight points. Junior guard Brian Alexander (Bradenton, Fla.) had seven points, eight assists, and a pair of steals. The Huskies shot 58.7 percent from the floor.
Wentworth, which won the rebounding battle by a 42-27 margin, received 11 points apiece from Dombrowski and Therriault. Freshman guard Ray Bessette (Dedham, Maine) came off the bench to score nine points, while sophomore forward Davon Daniels (Paterson, N.J.) had a game-high nine caroms.
With the win Southern Maine snaps a two-game losing streak and improves to 11-13. The Huskies close out the 2011-12 campaign on Saturday at UMass Dartmouth. Wentworth, which dropped its second straight, falls to 15-9. The Leopards close out the regular season at home on Saturday when they host Curry.
