Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
They needed this one.
For the past two weeks, University of Maine head basketball coach Ted Woodward has continually stressed consistency. The Black Bears were flip-flopping from dismal to delightful in their performances. On any given night, two different UMaine squads could show up. It quietly became a question of which one was going to appear come tip-off. On Sunday, rebounding from a stingy defeat against the University of Baltimore-Maryland County, the Black Bears hope they got on the right path after decisively knocking off Stony Brook 76-63.
In a game more typical of Black Bear basketball, UMaine used outstanding shooting and stand-up defense to haul in the victory. UMaine scored 46 second half points en route to the win.
With the victory, the Black Bears improved to 10-9 on overall and 5-5 in America East play. For the Seawolves, the defeat saw their regular season mark drop to 7-12 and 2-8 in conference competition.
UMaine, who entered the contest two-for-three in their last five games, were backed by an inspiring performance by their go-to man Ernest Turner, who scored 22 points. Turner lead a lethal UMaine offensive assault in the second contributing 20 of his 22 points, in the later half.
Turner ignited a Black Bear run halfway through the second half that ultimately led to the Seawolves demise. The talented junior guard recorded seven straight points for the Black Bears, helping to extend their lead to ten with little under ten minutes to play. UMaine proceeded to hammer away at Stony Brook for the next five minutes, increasing their advantage to 20 points. The Seawolves, who managed to cut the advantage in the final moments of the game, were finally done in from the charity strip.
Kevin Reed registered 16 points and seven rebounds for UMaine, while Joe Campell also hauled in 15 points. Mark Flavin rounded out the scoring sheet for the Black Bears totaling 12 points on the afternoon.
The Black Bears closed out the decision, shooting a sparkling 62 percent from the floor in the second half and 55.8 percent overall for the game. The statistic bodes well for UMaine, who fell to Stony Brook last Thursday on the heels of poor shooting.
The first half played out with both teams combating each other on the varying sides of the court. Flavin opened the scoring for in the first half tallying the first four points.
Reed closed out the first half nailing a buzzer beating two pointer to send the teams into the locker room deadlocked at 30-30.
UMaine end the half shooting 48.2 percent from the field, while the seawolves connected for 54.2 percent from the field.
On Thursday, the Black Bears once again fell victim to an underdog program eager to obtain the type of win a season can hinge on. In a depressingly slow decision, UMaine was upset 71-57 by UMBC.
For the Retrievers it was a night of firsts. The victory, which was the team’s first against the Black Bears, also marked the squad’s first three-game winning streak in three years. Highlighted by a fiery performance from Ron Gogerty, who chipped in a team-high 16 points, the Retrievers used an aggressive defensive rotation and precise perimeter shooting assault to snatch the milestone win.
In a match that should have been remembered for Kevin Reed registering his 1,000th career point, the Black Bears were left puzzled by a Retriever offense that recorded one of their best shooting percentages of the year.
UMaine head coach Ted Woodward discussed the disappointing outcome for the Black Bears.
“It’s a very tough loss, we’re extremely frustrated,” said Woodward. “They got us in every area, we just want to make sure we stay consistent.”"
They have beaten Albany, Binghamton and UMaine in the last couple of weeks, they are doing good things,” said Woodward.
Retriever head coach Ron Monroe was elated with the victory.
“I just think we have a great group of young men,” said Monroe. “Our defense has been something we have talked about and we’re making a team commitment to playing defense.”
Monroe believes the win will give his team momentum heading into the team’s coming games.
“I think it’s a tremendous confidence booster for our team,” said Monroe. “We’ve won three games in a row now. I think our kids are feeling good about themselves and I want them to feel good about themselves.”
The Retrievers, who watched three players hit double figures and two haul in nine points, used a 10-2 run with nine points remaining in the game to bury the Black Bears for good. With the game tied 46-46 with 8:09 remaining in the second half, Brian Hodges nailed a three pointer to ignite the run. Following up Hodges’ bucket was Andrew Feely with two straight arching baskets in the paint that rain the score up to 56-48. The buckets coming with six minutes left in the half, all but finished the Black Bear squad awaiting a dramatic comeback.
Feely finished the game with seven points and 10 rebounds, Cory McJimson also contributed 14 points and seven rebounds.
Gogerty scored 12 second half points including four in the last minute and half to ice the game. The tenacious guard nearly missed the remainder of the contest when he went down early in the first quarter with a knee injury.
Monroe talked about Gogerty’s ability to shake off the injury and return to the game.
“He came up to me and he’s the only guy on the team that can tell me ‘Coach I think I am ready to go back in the game’,” said Monroe. “I think he has earned that.”
Flavin led the Black Bears on the score sheet with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Joe Campbell finished the game with a career high 16 rebounds and 13 points. Reed, who tallied his 1,000th point, did so while recording 10 points on the evening. He became the 26th Black Bear to reach the milestone and ranks 25th overall in his junior season. Reed talked about the remarkable achievement after the match.
“I am excited about it but at the same disappointed about tonight,” said Reed.
“When I came here I didn’t expect to break anything,” said Reed. “My purpose to come here was to win games not break records.”
Woodward, although upset about the night’s performance, took time to address Reed’s milestone.
“When you think about all the … players that have come to UMaine, its a great credit to Kevin to do that in his junior year,” said Woodward.
The Black Bears are set to return home for an entanglement with Boston University 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
