BRUNSWICK

Hugh O’Neil scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Bowdoin College men’s basketball team to a 78-72 win over Husson on Tuesday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.

The Polar Bears improved to 10-8, while the Eagles fell to 12-6.

Bowdoin rode hot shooting in the first half to take an eight-point halftime lead. O’Neil scored 13 points, while Jack Bors had 10 in the opening 20 minutes to give the hosts a 40-32 edge.

The Polar Bears used an 8-2 run out of the gate, including three straight buckets by O’Neil, to push their lead to 14 points, 48-34, early in the second half. An 8-0 run, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Tim Ahn and Neil Fuller, pushed Bowdoin’s lead to a game-high 20 points, 61-41, with 11:03 to go.

An 11-2 reply by Husson, including six points from Raheem Anderson, vaulted the Eagles back into the contest, cutting the Bowdoin lead to 66-55 with six minutes remaining. The Eagles kept the pressure on, but failed to get closer than six points in the final five minutes as the Polar Bears sealed the win with eight free throws in the final 1:15.

Bowdoin connected on 49- percent of its shots thanks in part to a dominating performance on the glass, as the Polar Bears owned a 44-26 advantage in rebounding. O’Neil hit on 11-of-17 shots and grabbed a game-high 13 caroms. Bors finished with 19 points, while Jack Simonds had eight points, 11 assists and six rebounds in the victory.

Husson stayed close thanks to 12 treys and were led by 26 points from Anderson.

Bowdoin hosts Hamilton on Friday at 7 p.m.

Men’s hockey

Bowdoin put together a three-goal second period but was unable to complete the comeback as the University of Southern Maine pinned a 5-3 Tuesday night setback on the Polar Bears.

The Polar Bears (7-11) dropped their third consecutive five-goal game. The Huskies climbed to 8-11-2, avenging a 3-0 loss at Bowdoin on Dec. 6.

The Huskies jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first period, scoring back-to-back goals at 4:57 and 6:47. Cody Braga put the hosts on the board first, followed by Jordan Hall two minutes later with a power-play tally. With 18 seconds remaining in the period, Cole Klippenstein pushed the lead to three.

The eventual game-winner came off the stick of Patrick Magliano with 5:01 remaining in the middle frame.

Bowdoin broke through with three goals in two minutes, beginning with Matthew Lison’s power-play goal at 17:28. Matt Sullivan doubled Bowdoin’s goal tally seven seconds later off the faceoff. Joseph Lace capped the Polar Bears goal output after netting a shot with 58 seconds remaining.

Tristan Dundas iced the game with an empty-netter for USM with 25 seconds to play.

Mark Schiller got the start in net for Bowdoin, stopping 25 shots. Paul Leger made 22 saves for the Huskies.

The Polar Bears host Amherst on Friday at 7 p.m.

Women’s basketball

The Polar Bears used a big first quarter to take command en route to a convincing 83-59 win at UMass Boston on Tuesday evening.

Bowdoin (15-3), ranked 23rd, rolled to its third consecutive double-digit win, while the Beacons fell to 8-12 overall.

After the teams traded buckets in the early going, Abigail Kelly put the Polar Bears ahead for good at 5:25 with a 3- pointer (12-10) that sparked a 15-2 run to close out the first quarter. The Polar Bears hit three 3-pointers and forced five Beacons turnovers during the final 5:25 to earn a 24-12 advantage after one stanza.

Bowdoin stretched its lead out to 18 points at half (46-28), behind seven points in the second quarter from Brunswick native Lydia Caputi.

Caputi led the Polar Bears with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Taylor Choate tacked on 14 points, while Aly Silfen put up 10 points. Kate Kerrigan filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, five steals and three rebounds, and Kelly tacked on 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Polar Bears will return to action with a pair of key road NESCAC contests this weekend, at Hamilton on Friday (7 p.m.) and at Middlebury on Saturday (3 p.m.).