UMPI men win 2 in tourney, Hotham leads Owl women

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host their first games of the second semester today when Vermont Tech comes in to Wieden Gymnasium for a 5:30 p.m. women’s game and a 7:30 p.m. men’s contest. Free admission is being offered to all elementary, middle school and high school-age students.
The Owl men didn’t let the negative temperatures of the northern Maine weather bother their performance in the United Insurance Can-Am Classic held in Fort Kent as they prevailed in both contests.
On Saturday afternoon in the opening round, the Owls shot a blistering 55.4 percent to defeat University of New Brunswick-St. John, 92-75. Freshman Thiago Conceicao of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  was too much to handle as he finished the game a perfect 14 for 14 from the field to tally a game-high 28 points. Chase Vicaire scored 14 points and Conceicao added nine boards. Derek Healy and Michael Warner each had 12 points, with Healy adding seven assists and Warner shooting four of five attempts from beyond the arc.
Jarred Crawford led St. John-NB with 21 points and eight rebounds.
The Owls improved to 6-5 overall after cruising past Dalhousie Agricultural, 92-28, Sunday. UMPI was led by Warner’s game-high 26 points, with Conceicao tallying 17 more to earn all-tournament team honors. The Owls nailed 11 three pointers and held a 54-24 advantage on the boards.
Taran Jordan, another all-tourney choice, had seven points, seven rebounds and six assists for Dalhousie.
On Thursday in Quincy, Mass., the Owls dropped a 75-56 decision to Eastern Nazarene, who moved to 7-1 with the win.
Sean Manganti had 15 points to pace UMPI and Claude Louis registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards in his first game back on court for the Owls this season.
The UMPI women split their two Can-Am Classic contests held over the weekend in Fort Kent after being handled by Eastern Nazarene earlier in the week.
A strong defensive effort was utilized in the 59-28 victory Sunday over Dalhousie University-Agricultural Campus.
The Owls used an 18-2 run midway through the first half to take a  31-15 lead with 3:29 left in the first half and continued to lead by at double digits the rest of the way. Coach Doug Carter’s team allowed only four field goals in the second half and held the Rams to 33 percent shooting for the game.
All-tournament selection Amanda Hotham of Fort Fairfield led UMPI with 16 points to go with eight boards.  Rebecca Campbell of Washburn added 11 points and four rebounds.
Dalhousie guard Haley Wilson scored 15 points and was also named to the all-tournament team.
New Brunswick-St. John’s took game one of the tourney, 75-68, Saturday afternoon. The game was highlighted by 15 ties and 23 lead changes as neither team could create much distance from one another until the 11:01 of the second half when SJ-NB’s Brittany Mallory hit the third of three consecutive outside jumpers to move her team’s advantage to eight.
Undaunted, the Owls went on a 7-0 run and held the Canadian squad scoreless until the 3:05 mark, when St. John hit another jumper for a three-point edge.
Owl freshman Sydney Churchill, also of Fort Fairfield, connected on her third three-pointer of the game and tied the score at 60 with 2:45 remaining in the game. The teams traded baskets over the next minute, but St. John’s grabbed a 66-62 lead with 1:33 left on the clock after two St. John’s possessions resulted in four made foul shots.
UMPI kept battling and sophomore point guard Darby Toth drove the length of the court and hit a 10-foot jumper to give the Owls a 67-66 lead, but St. John’s Leanne Davis answered with a driving jumper of her own to give St. John a 68-67 lead with 53 seconds on the clock. Moments later Toth was fouled on another drive and hit the first of two foul shots to tie the game again with 41 seconds left.
Davis hit a pair of free throws and Mallory made a key steal that led to two free throws to give UNB the win.
The Owls fell to 4-3 but were led by Hotham, who registered 21 points and five rebounds. Senior captain Olivia McNally was the only other Owl in double figures as she added 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Rachel Jefferson led St. John with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists.
UMPI could not compete with the size advantage of the Eastern Nazarene Lions Thursday as they lost a hard-fought road match, 70-61.
The game was dominated by Eastern Nazarene’s Katy Teare, a 6-2 freshman who registered her first collegiate double-double by scoring 24 points and adding 18 rebounds, including 13 on the offensive end.
The Lions held only a four-point advantage at halftime (29-25) despite the size and inside strength advantage over the much smaller Owl squad. UMPI fought the entire second half to regain some sort of control of the game, closing the Lion lead to seven as late as 2:14 in the second half and again with 43 seconds left in the game, but the inside game of Eastern Nazarene was too much for the Owls. The Lions enjoyed a 62-32 rebounding advantage for the game, including 30 offensive boards and 24 second-chance points.
UMPI was again paced by Hotham, who scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds. McNally added 15 points, six rebounds and three steals.