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Nearly a month ago, the University of Maine men’s basketball squad got their payback. On Wednesday, Northeastern got theirs.
In a rout of epic proportions, Northeastern pummeled the Black Bears 82-51, avenging a narrow defeat in Orono last month. The Huskies, led by a tenacious offensive assault from sensational Jose Juan Barea, used an explosive first half to bury UMaine.
Barea led all scorers with 17 points. Even more impressive were the 12 assists Barera doled out to teammates over the course of the game. Barea, widely regarded as one of the most underheralded guards in the college game, once again took it to the Black Bears, a trait that is recurring more and more. Before last month’s UMaine victory at Alfond Arena, Barera had tallied back-to-back 30-point-or-greater games when tussling with the Black Bears in two thrilling duels.
Bobby Kelly and Shawn James scored 13 and 10 points, respectively. James also tallied a powerful 10 blocks and six rebounds.
With the loss, UMaine fell to a disappointing 11-13 overall on the year. More importantly, the defeat saw the Black Bears’ America East league mark drop to 6-9 on the year. The loss marked the Black Bears’ second straight defeat and continued to distance the squad from fourth-ranked Albany.
The streaking Huskies improved to 16-8 overall and 12-3 in conference competition. The mark leaves them in third place in America East behind Vermont and Boston University. Northeastern has won six of its last seven games.
UMaine was highlighted by the play of Mark Flavin and Joe Campbell, who each recorded 13 points. Campbell had a game-high 13 rebounds to lead the Black Bears.
Northeastern opened the first half torching the Black Bears for 10 straight points. UMaine was held scoreless for more than five minutes at the start of the match.
The Black Bears fired off a 15-6 run with 7:21 remaining in the first half only to see the Huskies counter for the biggest stretch of the game. Buoyed by Barea’s feverish play, Northeastern exploded for a 15-3 run that sealed the contest. With the conclusion of the run Northeastern’s advantage was extended to 41-28 at halftime.
UMaine closed out the game shooting an abysmal 30 percent from the filed. The Huskies allowed a season-low for points in a game along with 12 steals and a remarkable 20 turnovers.
The Black Bears return to action this Saturday against Hartford at Alfond Arena. The game, a rematch of UMaine’s worst defeat of the season, is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Bangor Daily News