BRUNSWICK, Maine — Aaron Willis scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Husson University men’s basketball team to its first-ever win over Bowdoin on Monday evening, 72-61.
In a game rescheduled from a Jan. 27 due to weather, the Eagles knocked down 13 3-pointers and committed just three turnovers to upend the Polar Bears for the first time in eight meetings between the schools. Husson improves to 18-5 while Bowdoin falls to 17-7.
Willis went 12-for-12 from the free throw line and 5-for-8 from 3-point range to lead four Husson players in double digits. Trevon Butler scored 14, Raheem Anderson netted 12 and Jacob Moore added 11 for Husson.
Lucas Hausman ended with 17 points while John Swords scored 16 with nine rebounds and six blocks. Matt Palecki notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Bryan Hurley had 13 points as well for the Polar Bears.
The Eagles came out firing with seven 3-pointers in the opening stanza, taking their biggest lead of the game at 33-17 with 4:09 left in the first half. Bowdoin finished the half on a 10-0 run and close the gap to 33-27 at the break.
Husson expanded their lead to 13 early in the second half, 44-31, but Bowdoin — sparked by plays on both ends of the court by Swords, scored the next 13 points to deadlock the contest at 44-44 with 11:29 to go.
The Eagles would not go away, however, and responded with a 16-7 surge that gave the visitors a nine-point lead, 60-51, with 2:30 to play.
Bowdoin owned a 44-28 edge on the glass but Husson scored 17 points off 16 Polar Bears turnovers, which proved to be the difference. Bowdoin connected on 44 percent of their shots to 35 percent for Husson.