Senior forward Jason St. Pierre (Bangor, Maine) led all scorers with a career-high 30 points, and the University of Southern Maine overcame an eight-point second half deficit to post a thrilling 80-71 triumph over visiting Colby College Wednesday night at Warren G. Hill Gymnasium.

On the strength of senior guard Damien Strahorn's (Menlo Park, Cal.) 22 first half points, Colby College took a 40-32 advantage into the break.

Southern Maine employed a lethal long range offense to chip away at the deficit in the early portion of the second half. Four of the Huskies first seven field goals were from beyond the three-point arc. A three-pointer from senior guard Geoff Grigsby (Bridgton, Maine) pulled the Huskies to within 51-50 with 10:56 remaining in the contest.

A running lay-up from junior forward Matt Tarbox (Standish, Maine) gave the Huskies their first lead of the second half at 54-53 with 9:47 to play.

The teams traded field goals on their next two possessions, with Colby taking its final lead of the game at 57-56 on a short jumper by junior forward Sean Flood (Waterville, Maine) with 8:42 to play.

Southern Maine answered with a 14-2 run, which included 10 points from St. Pierre, to build a comfortable 70-59 advantage with 4:22 to play. The Huskies scored their final seven points from the line to preserve the win.

The Huskies connected on 18-of-33 (.545) second half shots, and outscored the White Mules by a 48-31 margin in the final 20 minutes.

Sophomore guard Jeff White (Etna, Maine) contributed 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Grigsby added 11 points for Southern Maine, which improved to 4-3.

Colby, which fell to 5-3, received 29 points and nine rebounds from Strahorn, while Flood added 11 points.