Men’s basketball cruises to win over Unity

AUGUSTA, Maine -  The University of Maine at Augusta men's basketball team used a fast start en route to a 103-82 win over Unity College Monday night in Yankee Small College Conference action. With the win, UMA (6-7, 3-3 YSCC) remains tied with the University of Maine Machias for third place in the YSCC Eastern Division. 

The Moose received big performances from seniors Keith Chesley (Richmond, Maine) and Brandon Rogers (Turlock, Maine), who scored 27 and 24 points, respectively, while limiting YSCC scoring leader Eddie Kopacz (31.6 ppg) to just 20 points on the evening. Rogers was also a monster on the boards, with 24 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end to go along with a season-high six blocks, as UMA netted 33 second chance points and out-rebounded the Rams 58-30. Chesley was also in double-digits in rebounds with 12 on the night. 

UMA jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first four minutes of the opening half, highlighted by five points from Chesley and freshman Dallas Murray (Newport, R.I.). Unity responded with back to back buckets from Hunter Engel and Kopacz. The Ram's Sean Tocci added a jumper a minute later to cut the UMA lead to 16-9. but that's as close as Unity would come on the night. The Moose took a 51-24 lead into the locker room, and outscored the Rams 58-52 in the second half. 

Eight different players scored for UMA. Murray was 5-11 from the field for 17 points and Noah Thompson (Yuma, Ariz.) kicked in 13 points including three triples. Freshman Aboud Hemed was 3-5 from the floor for nine points. 

The Rams were led by Tocci, who scored a game-high 26 points and Engel who dropped in 20 on the night. 

UMA returns to action Wednesday night when the team travels to Thomas College for a 7:30 pm non-conference game.