UMaine-Farmington senior guard Terion Moss dribbles down the court during the NAC championship game against SUNY Delhi on Saturday in Farmington. Tony Blasi/Sun Journal
FARMINGTON — It took the last four minutes of the game for SUNY Delhi to steal the North Atlantic Conference men’s basketball title right out from under host University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday.
The Beavers’ shooting suddenly went cold on Saturday afternoon at Dearborn Gymnasium, but the Broncos got hot from the perimeter, allowing SUNY-Delhi to escape with an 83-77 victory to capture the NAC crown and punch its ticket to the NCAA Division III tournament.
UMaine-Farmington built a 41-34 lead at halftime, after beginning the game with 11 unanswered points.
The Beavers were still cruising on offense and maintained their distance from the Broncos — until the last four minutes when SUNY Delhi outscored UMaine-Farmington 13-7 after the game was tied 70-70. The Broncos outscored the Beavers 49-36 in the second half.
“I wasn’t OK with the way we started the game,” SUNY Delhi coach Zack Thomsen said. “I thought we put ourselves in a big hole, obviously. To their credit, (the Beavers) came out with a ton of energy. They played really hard right from the beginning.
“I thought we put ourselves in a really bad spot. We just kept battling back in the second half to make just enough plays to kind of get the momentum going our way. I know we didn’t take the lead until three minutes (left) … Certainly don’t want to put ourselves in that spot, but I am glad the way our guys battled and contained a fight and got ourselves in a great position.”
SUNY Delhi senior guard Jacob Beach described the Broncos as a second-half team. Beach threw in 18 points and went 4 for 4 at the free-throw line.
“At the beginning of the game, Farmington came out hot and hit a bunch of shots. It was going to be a battle,” Beach said. “We stuck together in the end. I know we are a second-half team. Everyone hit a lot of shots and we just kept pushing.
“We played great. All 20 guys were playing in the game and focused and ready to go. I loved it.”
UMaine-Farmington’s Zachary Mickle (10) dribbles around SUNY Delhi’s Fauzi Cizmesija-Ulmer (2) and Marven Louissaint (5) during the NAC championship game at Dearborn Gymnasium on Saturday in Farmington. Tony Blasi/Sun Journal
Beach tied the game with his jump shot at 70-70 with 4:04 left in the game.
Mavenson Therneus provided the Broncos with their first lead of the game after he stole the ball and leaped to stuff it for a dunk on a fast break with 3:31 left. Sophomore guard Lester McCarthy landed a 3-pointer, putting SUNY Delhi ahead 75-70 with 2:43 left in the game.
Therneus, who scored a game-high 21 points, drilled one of his four 3-pointers, giving the Broncos a solid 78-71 lead with 2:03 remaining. He added that it took a total team effort to beat the Beavers.
“We were down a big margin at the end of the game,” Therneus said. “I started shooting the ball and hitting shots and then we came back. The second half, we turned it up.”
With the Beavers still struggling with their shooting in the waning minutes, the Broncos scored five more points to pull off the comeback victory.
“(The Broncos) played a great game,” UMaine-Farmington coach Sam Leal said. “Our team played with tremendous effort. (SUNY Delhi) had a couple of guys step up and make some 3s. When you have X-factors like that make those kind of 3s, it is hard to beat a team. But our guys … played a good game, though.
“Our team was ready. Our players were ready. They were terrific in the moment. The other team shot the ball a little better than we did. They are a good team (and) always have five players on the court who can shoot 3s. Their defense gets you out of rhythm offensively. They are a tough team to beat and they are on quite the run here in the second half of the season.”
UMaine-Farmington senior guard Terion Moss, the NAC Player of the Year, deposited the team-high 20 points. He also had nine rebounds and four assists. To help the cause, 6-foot-9 senior center Jack Kane collected 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Kyle Donlin scored 13 points and dished out six assists.
The Beavers’ season ends with a record of 19-8, including a 13-1 mark in NAC play, with the lone loss on the road at SUNY Delhi.
The Broncos take a 20-8 record into the NCAA tournament.
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