Box Score BANGOR, Maine --- The Thomas College men's basketball team closed out its season with a 91-76 loss to Husson University in the semifinal round of the North Atlantic Conference tournament Friday at Newman Gymnasium.
Levi Barnes finished with a team-high 19 points while Mike Akanji added 18 points on six 3-pointers. Dayne Savage added 11 points for the Terriers (14-13) off the bench.
Trevon Butler and Raheem Anderson tied for game-high honors with 22 points apiece, while Darryl Wood added 16 points off the bench. Justin Martin fell just one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 boards.
Thomas jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes, but Husson went on a 14-0 run to lead 16-9 as the clock ticked under the 13:00 mark.
Freshman Jarrod Leonardi stopped the run with a layup with 12:38 to play, then drained a 3-pointer at the 10:55 mark to draw the Terriers within three points.
The Eagles responded with an 8-1 run to push the lead to double-digits at 29-19 before Dayne Savage hit a jumper with 5:47 to play in the half.
Sparked by a pair of Butler 3-pointers, the Eagles went on a 10-2 run to increase the lead to 16 with 3:25 remaining.
Thomas countered with a layup from Barnes and a Mike Akanji trey to trail just 39-28 with 2:21 left in the half. The Eagles closed out the half on a 6-0 run behind another trey from Butler and a buzzer beater from Anderson as the first half buzzer sounded.
In the second half, the Terriers were able to keep the game close by hitting 10 3-pointers but could not get the deficit below eight points.
At one stretch in the period, a string of six straight made baskets for Thomas all came from behind the arc, including four from Mike Akanji.
Husson balanced Thomas' efforts from long range by attacking the basket. Awarded with free throws, the Eagles made good on 20 of 21 opportunities at the charity stripe.
After shooting just 34.4 percent from the field in the first half, Thomas responded by hitting 51.4 percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes. The Terriers finished 29-of-67 from the field and 13-of-26 from 3-point range.
Husson cooled slightly from the field in the second, shooting just 40.6 percent compared to 45 percent in the first half to shoot 43.1 percent overall. For the game, the Eagles finished 22-of-24 (91.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
The hosts also held a 43-34 advantage on the boards, including a 13-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Barnes finished the season with 486 points, good for 14th on Thomas' single-season scoring list. He completed his career second all-time in scoring with 1,859 points.
Tyheem Simon joined the 400-point club, scoring eight points Friday to finish the year with an even 400 points. The total is tied for 38th on the program's single-season scoring list.
The game marked the final appearance in Terrier uniforms for Akanji, Barnes, Adam Carlsen and Justin Murray. Murray had three points and three rebounds, while Carlsen finished with eight points, three boards and two assists.
Barnes Named to All-Tournament Team: At the conclusion of the Saturday's championship game, it was announced that Levi Barnes had been named to the NAC Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team.
