Portsmouth, NH - Men's basketball traveled to New Hampshire this past weekend for another road trip. This time, the games were against two of the best D.II colleges in the nation for the USCAA.

Men's basketball first took on Great Bay in New Hampshire and from the tip the game was going to be tough as the Panthers had to play with just five guys. Great Bay seemed to take control of this game early on, jumping out to a large margin before halftime. The Panthers shooting may have looked a little rusty in this one, but Great Bay can play some defense, which may have altered the Panthers shots. Great Bay was also able to force 21 Panther turnovers, which has been a consistent problem for the Panthers all year. However, when you are playing with only five guys, the total minutes played, and wear and tear starts to play a factor on performance. The second half was just more of the same in this one, where Great Bay continued to look dominate. Great Bay put any signs of a Panthers comeback in the rear view mirror and just continued to give it to the Panthers. 

Although this game was not in favor of the Panthers, there were some highlights to be taken away from the game. Abe Pogue (Oradell, NJ) dropped his second 20 point game in a row, leading the Panthers in scoring with 21, and grabbing 6 rebounds. Brett Richards (Kinderhook, NY) continued his historical freshmen season with 17 points himself, and led the Panthers in rebounds grabbing 9. 

South Portland, ME - Although the Panthers suffered a tough loss Saturday, they had to turn around and take on Southern Maine who was just voted at the 3rd best team in D.II USCAA Men's basketball in the latest poll. In the end, the Panthers put up a strong fight to almost upset the Seawolves at home. 

Sunday afternoon, the Panthers were trying to bounce back after their loss to Great Bay and still put up a fight against Southern Maine. Out of the gates, the Panthers were committing a ton of turnovers that Southern Maine was able to take advantage of as 19 of their points came off turnovers. However, the Panthers knew what had to be done to stay in this game and that was to focus on strong defense. The Panthers held Southern Maine to just 29.7% shooting in the first half, which led a close game going into halftime. Richards led the way for the Panthers in the first half, scoring 17 of the teams 25 points.

This was like watching a replay of these two teams first matchup, but it was Southern Maine coming out of halftime with major adjustments. However, this time around, the Panthers were continuing their strong play, showing that Southern Maine could be competed with. The second half saw both these teams battling it out, and Southern Maine was able to capitalize on more Panther turnovers and offensive rebounds to end up closing out the game. The Panthers fall to the 3rd best team in the USCAA by just 6 points, with the final score being 56-50. The Panthers really showed up to give Southern Maine a test, and make a statement they can still compete well with just five guys. Richards had another 4 points in the second half to bring his total to 21, while grabbing 12 total rebounds. Edgard Matias (Kissimmee, FL) helped with the scoring load, being the other Panther in double figures with 14 points himself along with 7 total rebounds. The scoring looked to come at the hands of great play by Myles Washington (Alexandria, VA) who led the offense with 5 assists, and tough defense to help keep the game close. Although Pogue did not score as much as he has, he also helped pull in his career high in rebounds with a total of 12. 

The Panthers will look to reset, and take some time to prepare to take on Word of Life Wednesday, January 25th

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