BANNER

The Badgers built an early lead but fell 69-59 to Maine Maritime on Monday night in Castine, ME.

SUMMARY

Johnson came out firing, as Jason Baker opened the scoring with a three-pointer off a feed from Mohammed Semega just 22 seconds into the game. Semega followed with a tip-in to make it 5-2 before a Baker dunk at 15:31 pushed the lead to 9-5. Jaylen Brown added a layup off a steal to cap an early surge, giving the Badgers an 11-5 advantage.

Maine Maritime answered with back-to-back threes to tie the game at 11-11 when Johnson responded with a Semega triple and a Carter jumper to go up 16-11. Newcomer Jordan Chisholm followed the action burying a three to make it 19-11, his first points as a Badger. The Mariners countered with a three and layup, trimming the lead to 21-16. Semega stayed hot, hitting a layup and a three-pointer to keep Johnson ahead 26-21, and later added another jumper for a 30-23 cushion. Martin Askenazi's three-pointer extended the lead to 33-23 with 3:37 left, as Maine Maritime maintained, holding the margin to 39-28 at the break.

Semega opened the half with a layup to make it 41-28, but Maine Maritime's Drew Hamilton caught fire, scoring 11 straight points—including three triples—to erase the deficit and give the Mariners a 49-44 lead with 11:02 remaining. Johnson fought back as Semega hit a jumper and Chisholm added a three to pull within 51-59, but Maine Maritime answered with back-to-back threes and a dunk to push the lead to double digits. The Mariners added another three and a jumper late, and despite free throws from Carter and Semega and a final pair from Baker, the Mariners held on for the 69-59 win.

KEY STATS

Mohammed Semega: 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Jason Baker: 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks
Matthew Carter: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Jordan Chisholm: 9 points, 3 three-pointers

UP NEXT

The Badgers return to action Tuesday, January 6th, for a 1pm tipoff at Maine Farmington.