Warrick, Hornets erase late deficit

Phil Warrick's 18-footer with 3.1 left in regulation was the difference as Lyndon earned a hard-fought 78-75 victory over the University of Maine at Farmington Saturday.

"I don't really know what I was thinking," said Warrick. "Coach just put it in my hands. I'm used to the pressure, I was confidant I could hit the shot, and I hit it."

Trailing by one with less than 10 seconds left to play; Warrick sprinted past a Beavers' defender and drained the game-winning shot from the right wing.

"He (Warrick) played great last night, he's been our most consistent player, he's an explosive player and he is a big game player," said head coach Joe Krupinski.  

On the ensuing inbounds play, Jason Gray deflected a full-court inbounds pass to teammate Jose Fortunato, who was fouled immediately.

Fortunato sank two free throws with .7 seconds on the clock to ice the win and send the Hornets (4-11, 3-1) on to their third consecutive victory in North Atlantic Conference play.

Despite a sluggish start, Warrick managed to toss in 26 points and collect a team-high three assists in the contest. Gray chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Ben Sackett came off the bench to scorch the nets for 18 points, including a 6-for-9 effort from beyond the three-point arc.

"I hit some shots," said Sackett. "They were just going in for me tonight."

"Ben was really good," said Krupinski. "I said to the guys in the locker room, I really thought he won us the game."

Eric Taylor had a double-double for Farmington (6-9, 2-3); pouring in a game-high 31 points to go with 13 rebounds and two steals.

"Taylor is a heck of a player," said Krupinski. "We didn't have much of an answer for him. But I'm proud of our guys, we fought through some bad play and stepped up and made some plays when it counted."

Andrew Dean added 13 points for the Beavers and Ben Johnson had 10.