BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College men’s basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final nine minutes to defeat the University of Maine-Farmington in a wild 84-79 win on Wednesday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.
The Polar Bears improved to 10-4, while the Beavers dropped to 7-6. The win was the second this season for Bowdoin against UMF after also claiming a 72-38 victory on Nov. 18.
Wyatt Littles led Bowdoin with 17 points and a defensive spark off the bench. Will Hanley had 13 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks for Bowdoin, which also had Ryan O’Connell (12 points), Andrew Madlinger (12) and Bryan Hurley (10) in double digits.
UMF was paced by 18 points, on six 3-pointers, from Kevin Leary. Ben Johnson had 16 points for the Beavers, who also received 16 from Pet Sumner and 11 from Andrew Dickey.
Leary’s hot play gave the Beavers an early cushion as he scored all of his 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from long range in the opening period. Down 12 with under two minutes to play in the stanza, Bowdoin closed the half on an 11-0 run, capped by a Madlinger 3-pointer to trim the UMF lead to 42-41 at intermission.
The visitors bounced back in the second half behind the play of Johnson and Sumner, who combined for 24 points in the period to push the visitors’ lead back to double digits. Yusaf Iman capped a 7-0 surge to give the Beavers a 68-54 lead with 8:50 remaining in regulation.
Bowdoin clamped down defensively, forcing seven turnovers in Farmington’s next eight possessions. Meanwhile, the Polar Bear offense mounted a frantic 18-2 run over a six-minute span, sparked by nine points from O’Connell, who gave the hosts the lead with a driving lay-in, 74-72, with 3:10 to play.
The Polar Bears took control from there, using a decisive 10-2 run over the final three minutes, keyed by a Bryan Hurley trifecta, to seal the win. Sumner’s 3-pointer at the buzzer closed the final gap to 84-79.
Both teams shot well, with Farmington connecting on 55.4 percent from the field, including 14 3-pointers. Bowdoin hit on 51.6 percent of its attempts and held a 30- 26 edge in rebounds. The Polar Bear reserves proved to be the difference as the hosts posted a 35-16 advantage in bench points.
Women’s hoops
Bowdoin sprinted out to a 12- 0 lead and never looked back in a 75-39 win over the University of Maine-Farmington Monday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.
The Polar Bears improved to 11-4 heading into their home game with top- ranked Amherst on Friday evening at 6 p.m. The Beavers, who had won two of their last three outings, fell to 4-9 and will play at Husson at 7:30 p.m.
Bowdoin had four players in double figures, led by 13 off the bench from Allie Piscina to go with four steals and two blocks. Jill Henrikson had 12 points and six rebounds, Sarah Binkhorst pitched in 11 points and Ellery Gould posted 10 for the Polar Bears, who connected on 50 percent of their shots (28 of 56).
The Beavers were paced by 10 points from Lindsay Ranquist.
The Polar Bears extended their lead to 23-4 midway through the opening period. Bowdoin led by as many as 22 before a late Farmington run trimmed the deficit to 36-21 at the break.
Bowdoin put the game out of reach by hitting 15 of 22 shots in the second period (68.2 percent).
Bowdoin held a 42-31 edge on the glass and limited Farmington to 26.9 percent shooting for the game. The Polar Bears have won eight straight in the series and improved to 28-13 all-time.
Women’s ice hockey
Julia Pearl scored twice in the third period, including the game-tying goal with 28 seconds remaining in regulation, as the University of Southern Maine rallied for a 3-3 tie at Bowdoin on Tuesday evening.
The Huskies moved to 4-8-3, while the Polar Bears saw their two-game winning streak snapped and stand at 6-5-3 this season.
Pearl’s two goals led the Huskies, who also got a goal and an assist from Katie Paradis.
Kayte Holtz and Kenzie Novak each had a goal and a helper for the Polar Bears.
USM scored first when Paradis put home a rebound goal past Bowdoin’s Sage Santangelo at 12:44 of the opening period.
Bowdoin responded with a pair of goals in a span of 1:26 to take the lead. Novak finished off a scrum in front at 13:31 before Holtz lifted a shot over the right shoulder of Huskies netminder Liz Bergstrom at 14:57.
After a scoreless second period, Bowdoin increased its lead to 3-1 with a goal from Emily Tang with 15:19 remaining.
The Huskies cut the lead to a single goal when Pearl slid a shot through the legs of Santangelo.
The Polar Bears held a 5-0 shot advantage in overtime, but could not capitalize on their opportunities.
Santangelo made 27 saves for the Polar Bears and USM held a 30-28 advantage in shots. The Huskies finished 1-of-6 on the power play, while the Polar Bears failed on three their three opportunities.
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