Owl men pull off win over Bengals,
teams host UMM tonight
UMPI men down Bengals
PRESQUE ISLE — The Owl men’s basketball team earned a big Sunrise Conference victory Friday, topping UM-Fort Kent, 71-66. With the win, the Owls improved to 5-13 on the year and 3-6 in conference play.
Behind a roaring UMPI fan section, the Owls played two solid halves of basketball.
UMPI was led by senior Clifford McDonald, who earned his eighth double-double of the year, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds, including a 9-for-14 shooting night from the floor. Kyle Corrigan chipped in with 11 points and a game-high 10 assists. Patrick Manifold came up big in the final minutes of the game and tallied 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win.
Miguel Vasquez added nine points, five rebounds and three steals, while Michael Warner was outstanding off the bench, scoring seven points and pulling down five rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
The Owls shot 41 percent from the floor and outrebounded their opponents, 35-34.
Manny Odugbela led the Bengals with 28 points, while Terence Dockery chipped in with 13 points in the loss. Emiliano Void pulled down eight rebounds.
The Owls next play tonight as they host the University of Maine at Machias in a Sunrise Conference matchup beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Lady Owls fall short
The University of Maine at Presque Isle women’s basketball team dropped a 67-55 decision to the UM-Fort Kent Lady Bengals Friday at Wieden Gymnasium. With the loss, the Owls fell to 9-10 on the season and 7-2 on Sunrise Conference play.
The Lady Owls started off strong, but were plagued by foul trouble early in the half. However, they still took a 31-28 advantage into intermission. UMPI continued to lead for most of the second half, only to see the Bengals go on a run and go on top with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The visitors never looked back en route to the win.
The Owls were led by Emily Pelletier, who led all scorers with 15 points, including a 5-for-9 effort from three-point range. Senior Megan Korhonen finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, while freshman Rashell Saucier tallied seven points, six rebounds and four assists.
Jenn Colpitts paced her Fort Kent team with 14 points and five steals, while Amber Garrison chipped in with 12 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Taylor Boucher went 3 for 6 from behind the arc to tally 11 points in the game.
The Owls committed 31 turnovers in the contest, while putting up only 41 shots in a 46-percent shooting effort from the floor.
The Lady Owls return to action today as they will host the University of Maine at Machias in a Sunrise Conference match-up. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Men split pair of games
The UMPI men picked up their second conference victory of the season Jan. 29 by beating the College of St. Joseph’s, 82-79.
Ronald Spencer fired in 28 points, including six threes, while McDonald had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Manifold was solid with 13 points and nine rebounds. Chris Coffin had 11 points and five assists and Corrigan dished out eight assists.
The following afternoon, the Owls lost at home to Vermont Tech, 94-82, despite 30 points and nine rebounds from Manifold. McDonald had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Coffin had his strongest outing of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He hit four three-pointers in the game. Corrigan had 10 assists, seven points and five boards and Vazquez played well on the defensive end and also had five points, five rebounds and three assists.
Owls ease to 2 more wins
The Owl women are now 7-1 in Sunrise Conference play following their blowout wins over the College of St. Joseph’s Jan. 29 (79-44) and Vermont Technical College Jan. 30 (80-33).
On Saturday, Renee Moore had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla Fleming had 10 points and 10 boards to lead the charge. Pelletier had 11 points, while Olivia McNally had 11 points and five rebounds and Julie Peers contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
Liron Albag netted nine points, while Saucier and Randi Kaplan both grabbed eight boards.
Sunday’s game was similar as the Owls dominated on both ends of the floor. Saucier had 20 points and 16 rebounds to lead the way, while falling just short of a statistical triple-double with nine steals. Pelletier nailed six three-pointers and also totaled 20, while Korhonen had 10 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and eight steals. Kaci Hudson had a strong all-around game as well with five points, six rebounds and five assists.
Weekly honors go to UMPI players
Manifold, Korhonen and Saucier were all honored by the Sunrise Conference for the week of Jan. 24-30.
Manifold was named men’s player of the week by averaging 22.7 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 70 percent from the field in the three games. Korhonen gained women’s player of the week honors as she averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.7 steals in a 3-0 week. Saucier was the co-rookie of the week as she averaged 12.6 ppg and 10.3 rebounds.
Manifold was also named the Association of Division III Independents men’s basketball player of the week for the second consecutive week and was also named to the Maine Men’s Basketball Coaches and Writers Association (MMBCWA) Player of the Week honor roll for his impressive play in the Owl three-game week.
