Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Plymouth State University saw its 19-point, 2nd-half cushion sliced to just one, but managed to fend off the University of New England for an 81-74 men's basketball decision on Saturday night (Nov. 13) at Court Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum.

Dante Rivera led the Panthers (3-1) with 19 points, and Kevin Henry added 15. Manny Alisandro and Kyler Bosse scored 13 and 12, respectively. PSU shot 54 percent from the field in the contest, which resulted in a 46-28 points advantage in the paint. The visitors were also up nine (17-8) at the charity stripe.

For the Nor'easters (0-3), five players reached double digits in a balanced effort. Ray Evans and James DeCrisantis both went for 13 points, Michael Quinn had 12 prior to fouling out in limited minutes, and Drake Gavin tacked on 11. Ric Castillo also totaled 11 points, while collecting a game-best eight rebounds. Anthony Senesombath dialed up seven points, seven boards, and seven assists.

Eight offensive caroms, which produced 11 points, essentially made up UNE's slim 33-30 edge on the glass. The hosts also canned a dozen three-pointers, as opposed to just two by the Panthers.

Plymouth State maintained the lead on the scoreboard for more than 37 minutes in the match, and 9-0 spurt in the latter stages of the 1st period helped solidify the cushion at 35-22. Things were 39-27 at the half, and grew to 51-32 early in the 2nd.

However, as play neared the middle of the stanza, the Nor'easters surged back with a 20-3 run over 4:17 to reduce the difference to 62-61 just outside the 7:00 mark. Quinn paced the charge, accounting for half (10), behind three trifectas and one that he turned into a four-point play.

Rivera put in a layup for PSU to calm the momentum swing, but that was matched by Senesombath on the other end. Rivera got another one, though, to spark nine in-a-row -- which included five by Henry -- and left the Panthers on top of a 73-63 spread with 3:16 on the clock. UNE closed back to within four (75-71), only to see a three-point play from Henry seal it.

The Nor'easters will visit Maine Maritime Academy on Monday.