Men’s basketball falls short against NHTI

AUGUSTA, Maine - The University of Maine at Augusta men's basketball team had the hot hand early, but could not hold on in the second half, falling to conference rival NHTI 108-92 Tuesday night in the final home game of the season at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Moose carried a 53-40 lead at the half, but Lynx exploded for 68 second half points, shooting 61% from the field and 62.5% from behind the arc in the closing half to seal the victory. 

UMA opened the game with a 9-0 run, highlighted by seven points from freshman Noah Thompson (Yuma, Ariz.), before NHTI's Jerome Wooten finally put the Lynx on the board three minutes into the game. The Moose continued the offensive assault, leading by as many as 15 points in the first half and and entered the locker room on a three-point buzzer beater by freshman Dallas Murray (Newport, R.I.) who finished with 17 points and four assists to go along with five rebounds. 

The Lynx opened the second half with an 11-2 run and eventually tied the game on a Wooten three pointer with 13:05 remaining. The remainder of the game included six ties and three lead changes before NHTI exploded for another run, this time a 13-5 spread to help seal the victory. 

As has been the case for most of their career together, seniors Brandon Rogers (Turlock, Calif.) and Keith Chesley (Clinton, Maine), both honored tonight prior to the last home game of the season, led the Moose. Rogers scored 28 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, surpassing the 400 rebound mark for the season, while Chesley scored 26 points and grabbed nine boards. 

Thompson was also in double-digits for the Moose with 10 points. The Lynx were led by Wooten who scored a game-high 31 points on 12-16 shooting from the floor, and 23 points from Dante Ramos.

UMA returns to action for the final game of the regular season on Thursday night when the team travels to Unity.