Sports

Black Bears’ second half downs Dragons

Dunkley leads Maine with 24, Cavalieri adds career-high 21

By Lucas Peterson

Posted on Feb. 19, 2001, at 12:00 a.m.

After a heart wrenching loss Thursday night in a game filled with opportunities to win, Maine needed a win Saturday against Drexel. They needed a win for the seniors and for their confidence. Great secondhalf post defense and an up-tempo attack led the University of Maine men’s basketball team to a 92-78 victory over visiting Drexel.

“I could not have scripted today out any better,” said a satisfied Giannini after the game as Maine improved to 10-6 in America East. Drexel dropped to 12-5.

It was Senior Day on the hardwood in Orono and the Black Bears’ three seniors were honored in a ceremony before the game. Julian Dunkley, who became the 25th player in Maine history to score 1,000 points, Carvell Ammons, the transfer who has become a consistent and dangerous threat in the post, and Colin Haynes, Giannini’s first recruit and the player who has won more games in a Maine uniform than anyone, were honored before the game and in the press conference which followed.

“Seniors give so much over such a long period of time,” Giannini said. “It’s just so great to see them go out with a positive memory.”

The steady play of Julian Dunkley and a great performance by freshman Tory Cavalieri proved to be more than Drexel could handle. Maine jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead, but the game quickly evolved into a tight-knit contest with Drexel big man Joe Linderman leading the Dragons. The six-foot-nine senior scored 10 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting. Linderman battled with Ammons under the hoop trading baskets throughout the half. Ammons finished the game with 14, and after a great halftime adjustment, held Linderman to just five points the rest of the game.

Haynes ended the half with a three-pointer to bring Maine within one, 37-36.

The second half quickly became the Tory Cavalieri show, as someone forgot to tell the freshman from New Jersey that this was Senior Day. At halftime, the stat sheet showed Cavalieri with five points, three assists and two rebounds. With 14:16 remaining in the game, the young point guard drained a three in front of the Maine bench to extend the lead to 53-44. After the game, Drexel head coach Steve Seymour said part of his team’s game plan was to give Cavalieri the outside shot. Cavalieri made the Dragons pay, knocking down three from beyond the arc en route to a career-high 21 points.

“I’m in the gym shooting 50 three’s after and before every practice,” Cavalieri said. “If he (Coach Seymour) wants to let me shoot-you see the results.”

With 4:28 left in the game, Cavalieri put the game on ice, threading the needle to find Colin Haynes underneath the basket for an easy two. He finished the game with a career-high seven rebounds and eight assists to compliment his 21 points.

Senior guard Stephen Starks tried to keep the Dragons in the game, pouring in 27 points, 17 in the second half. Starks leads America East players in scoring, averaging over 20 points per game and is one of the toughest guards to defend in the conference. Coach Giannini praised Cavalieri’s defense against Starks.

“Starks made some shots late, but when the game was on the line, he didn’t score,” Giannini said. “And Tory’s the only guy I’ve seen on our team or on any other team this year, that’s been able to hold Starks down for any length of time.”

As the seniors checked out of their last regular season home game, the fans rose to their feet in applause. Reserve forward Clayton Brown entered the game and would make his only shot attempt. With eight seconds remaining in the game, Cavalieri sank two free throws. Drexel attempted to in bound the basketball, but Cavalieri stole the pass and lobbed a brilliant, high arcing, alley-oop to a skyward Brown for a two-handed, explosive slam. The crowd went wild, the bench was ecstatic, and Giannini was proud of his team.

“There are so many guys, who work so hard each and every day. All the way, even down to the last play, it was very pleasing,” he said.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 19th, 2001, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.