DANBURY, Conn. – Senior forward Jamaal Caterina scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the University of Southern Maine to a 75-65 come-from-behind win over Western Connecticut University in LEC men’s basketball action Saturday.

The Huskies (13-12) outscored the Colonials in the second half to overcome a seven-point (37-30) deficit at the break. Senior forward Drew Coppenrath added 19 points and nine rebounds for Southern Maine.

Freshman Michael Jenson led four Colonial (14-10) players in double figures with 16 points.

Bowdoin 83, Bates 50

BRUNSWICK – The Bowdoin College men’s basketball team advanced to the NESCAC semifinals for the first time in the program’s history with a convincing 83-50 win over Bates in tournament play Saturday. The Polar Bears (20-5) stormed out of the gates, opening a double-digit advantage midway through the first period on an 11-0 run. The surge was sparked by a two-handed dunk from Mark Phillips and capped by a 3-pointer from Andrew Hippert.

Lesley 64, UMF 57

FARMINGTON – Lesley University survived two separate rallies from he University of Maine at Farmington to notch a 64-57 win over the Beavers in men’s basketball action Saturday.

Back-to-back hoops by Joseph Chatman and Jesus Trejo put the Lynx (10-15) up 58-57 with 2:31 left in regulation. Lesley was able to close things out with a six-for-six performance from the foul line.

Isaac Hutchinson of Oakland and Ted Neil of Strong each tallied 12 points for the Beavers (11-14), while Eric Taylor of Oakland collected a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Stony Brook 56, Maine 51

ORONO – Ricky Lucas scored 14 points and added five assists to lead Stony Brook to a 56-51 victory over Maine on Saturday.

Maine (7-20, 3-11 America East) led 27-17 at halftime, but the Seawolves (6-21, 3-12) outscored the Black Bears 39-24 in the second half to claim the victory. Mitchell Beauford and Chris Martin chipped in 13 each for Stony Brook. Mark Socoby led Maine with 14 points.

Hockey

Colby 5, St. Michael’s 1

WATERVILLE – Billy Crinnion scored the eventual game-winner as Colby cruised to a 5-1 victory over St. Michael’s in men’s NESCAC hockey action Saturday.

The Mules (14-8-1) broke the game open in the second period with three goals. In addition to Crinnion starting things off at 3:03, Adam Marino and Mike Butler lit the lamp before the period was over.

Norwich 6, Bowdoin 4

BRUNSWICK – Nikita Kashirsky collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and scored a breakaway goal shorthanded with just 3:13 remaining for the eventual game-winner as Norwich University sewed up a 6-4 victory over Bowdoin in hockey action Saturday.

The Polar Bears (17-6) were able to take an early lead as Matt Smith notched his sixth goal of the season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. But the advantage was short-lived as Eric Tallent found the back of the net just 28 seconds later for the Cadets (19-6).

Maine 3, Massachusetts 2

ORONO – Matt Duffy scored the game-clinching goal at the 16:13 mark of the third period on a conversion from Chris Hahn and Keenan Hopson for the University of Maine as the Black Bears clipped the University of Massachusetts 3-2 in hockey action Saturday evening.

Mike Kostka opened the scoring 1:33 into the contest for Massachusetts on a power play. But, the Black Bears managed to respond with a Travis Ramsay goal.

Following another go-ahead tally by the visitors, Keif Orsini evened up things again for the Black Bears (9-17-3) to set the stage for Duffy’s game-winner.

Track

Bates finishes sixth

MEDFORD, Mass. – Bates College finished sixth out of 25 scoring teams Saturday at the 2008 New England Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Senior captain Noah Gauthier took first place in the 35-pound weight throw for the second straight year at 59-foot 10-inches.

The 4×800 relay team of first-year Joseph Musso, first-year Kevin McDonald, first-year Thomas Esponnette of Auburn and junior Michael Watson placed 11th with a time of 8:14.32 in the event.

Women’s basketball

UMF 78, Lesley 67

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington team fought back from a double-digit deficit to snatch a 78-67 victory from Lesley University in women’s basketball action Saturday. The Beavers (11-12) trailed 33-27 at the break, and continued to lose ground in the opening minutes of the second half. But Erin Porter ignited a 13-0 run with a 3-pointer and finished with a layup. She had a game-high 17 points for Farmington.

Bowdoin 55, Bates 51

BRUNSWICK – Katie Bergeron scored a game-high 24 points to keep Bowdoin undefeated with a 55-51 win over Bates in NESCAC women’s basketball action Saturday.

Late in the contest and following a dry spell, co-captain Sarah Barton hit a running 3-pointer to cut the Polar Bear (18-7) lead to 55-51 with 25 seconds remaining, but the Bobcats (15-10) could not get any closer.

Senior Meg Coffin had an outstanding career finale with 20 points and 11 rebounds for Bates.

USM 56, W. Connecticut 54

DANBURY, Conn. – Sophomore forward Becky Dixon scored a layup with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the University of Southern Maine to a 56-54 triumph over Western Connecticut State University in LEC women’s basketball action Saturday.

Sophomore forward Katie Moffo, who scored a game-high 23 points, fired off a potential game-winning 3-point attempt with seconds to play for the Colonials (19-5), but it fell short as sophomore guard Nicole Paradis secured the rebound for the Huskies (23-2) and held on for the win.

Binghamton 64, Maine 57

VESTAL, N.Y. – Laine Kurpneice collected 21 points to lead Binghamton to a 64-57 win over the University of Maine in women’s basketball Saturday. The Black Bears (7-19) splashed their way to a 20-18 first half lead. Colleen Kimurray notched a team-high 16 points, while Kris Younan chipped in with 13 points for Maine.

Binghamton (9-16) outscored the Black Bears 46-37 in the second half behind the offensive efforts of Laura Sario with 12 points, and Juta Jahilo and Erica Carter with 10 points apiece.

Track

USM finishes 11th at New Englands

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Seniors Christa Hutchinson, Hattie Landry, Emily Artesani and Sarah Hale combined to run a school-record time of 1:46.50 and earn a first-place finish in the 4×200 meter relay to highlight the University of Southern Maine Huskies women’s indoor track and field performance in the 2008 New England Division III Championship on Saturday.

Junior Emily Poliquin of Lisbon Falls also garnered points for the Huskies, taking a sixth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet 11 inches in the event.