BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Plymouth State University men's basketball team opened up its first of two games at the Jim Beaudry Classic hosted by the University of New England with an impressive victory over the University of Maine Presque Isle, 90-58, on Friday night.
The Panthers led from the first possession and did not look back, playing fast-paced, end-to-end basketball for the full 40 minutes. Junior
Kevin Henry (Stratham, N.H.) was nearly perfect from the floor, shooting 11-of-12 in 31 minutes of play.
Henry, alongside senior
Giorgi Tsiklauri (Brooklyn, N.Y.), led all scorers with 24 points each, while junior
Christian Barr (Henniker, N.H.) added 12 of his own off the bench. Sophomore
Elijah Swanson (Meredith, N.H.) finished one point shy of his first career double-double.
Plymouth State improves to 1-1 on the season, while the Owls begin 0-1.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 90, UMPI 58
- Plymouth State (1-1)
- UMPI (0-1)
Top Performers:
- Kevin Henry (24 pts, 11-12 fg, 1-1 3pt, 1-1 ft, 4 ast)
- Giorgi Tsiklauri (24 pts, 10-18 fg, 4-6 3pt, 6 reb)
- Christian Barr (12 pts, 2-4 3pt, 6 reb)
- Elijah Swanson (9 pts, 10 reb)
How it Happened:
- The Panthers started out fast, scoring the first seven points of the game in the opening three minutes of play.
- PSU extended the lead to double digits, 24-13, for the first time in the contest with 9:03 left in the first half.
- The team couldn't miss, shooting over 70% with two minutes to play before halftime to enjoy an 18-point lead, 42-24.
- UMPI scored the final six points of the half to pull within 42-30 at the midway mark to stay within striking distance.
- The Owls continued to fly into the second half with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to eight, 44-36, after two minutes.
- Plymouth State put a halt to the comeback attempt quickly, responding with ten unanswered points to retain an 18-point advantage, 54-36, with 16:04 remaining.
- The Panthers continued to create turnovers and run the floor, keeping their opponents to only 14 points over the final 13 minutes of play to run away with the comfortable win.
By the Numbers:
- The Panthers went 40-of-71 (56.3%) from the floor and 7-of-16 (43.8%) from three.
- Plymouth State pulled down 43 rebounds to the Owls' 25 and owned a 12-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
- The Panthers scored 60 points in the paint to UMPI's 30.
- Bench points were in PSU's favor, 20-18.
- Nine Panthers recorded at least a point.
- Plymouth State reached the 90-point threshold just three times last season.
- Plymouth State won the only other meeting between the two teams, 69-66, during the 2015-16 season.
Up Next:
- The Jim Beaudry Classic continues Saturday (Nov. 12) with PSU squaring off against host UNE at 2:00 p.m.
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