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.
ORONO – Special things are supposed to happen on Senior Night. But something extra-special was in the cards for Ernest Turner in his last game at Alfond Arena Thursday night.
The sharp-shooting guard capped his home career in storybook style, banking a half-court heave off the backboard and in as time expired to lift the University of Maine men’s basketball team to a 69-66 win over Maryland-Baltimore County
“I don’t know what to say. I just threw it up,” said an elated Turner after the game. “I thought I got enough air on it to give it a chance, but I’m still shocked it actually went in. It’s crazy.”
Turner’s last-second miracle was the climax of an improbable UMaine comeback, as the Black Bears drained 11 second half three-pointers to erase a 20 point deficit.
“It feels great to help my team win,” Turner added. “To make the biggest shot like that in my last game, senior game, like coach said, I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”
Turner, the Black Bears’ leading scorer the last two seasons, had 23 on the night to go with six rebounds and an assist. That came despite missing much of the first half with three fouls and playing the entire second half without drawing a whistle.
With the Black Bears trailing 40-20 early in the second half, junior Jon Sheets sank a trey that ignited a 15-2 run which cut the lead in half. All the points came on three-pointers, with two from Sheets and three from Turner. Senior Freddy Petkus assisted on four of the five treys in the run.
“We picked up the defensive pride, strung together some stops,” said junior Chris Bruff. “Next thing you know, we’re making shots, the other team is down and we just ran with it.”
The Retrievers pushed the lead to eight at 51-43 before junior Rashard Turner took over, scoring eight points on a 14-2 UMaine run that gave the Black Bears their first lead on the game, 54-51 with 8:22 to play.
“I didn’t realize we’d cut the lead,” Rashard said. “We were just out there playing, looking for each other. We came out with intensity because it’s a 40- minute game and you can’t quit.”
UMaine pushed its lead to seven before UMBC made a comeback of its own, culminated by a Joe Pugh trey with 2.6 seconds remaining that knotted the game at 66-66 and set up Ernest Turner’s heroics.
“Ernest Turner deserved that being his senior year. He deserved to go out a winner because he is a winner,” said UMBC head coach Randy Monroe. “Credit Maine for exploding for 49 points in the second half.”
Ernest Turner and Petkus have exemplified leadership in what has been an up-and-down season for UMaine. The pair expected to be playing with standout Kevin Reed, whose absence forced inexperienced players into action. Turner and Petkus never complained about the wins and losses, showing the younger players the ropes and setting a positive example all along.
If any two seniors deserved to go out in such exhilarating fashion, it was them.
“The guys wanted to send Ernest and Freddy out on a positive note,” said UMaine head coach Ted Woodward. “They’ve given us everything they possibly could.”
The Black Bears dug themselves the hole by shooting just 36 percent and 1-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half, trailing 36-20 at the break. UMaine committed 12 of their 18 turnovers in the first half to help the Retriever cause.
“We couldn’t have played much worse in the first half,” said Woodward. “We talked about playing in short segments, defending like crazy, and we got ourselves in transition and got some easy kick-outs.”
In addition to their hot outside shooting, the Black Bears were able to hold the Retrievers to 37 percent from the floor in the second half, down from their 50 percent in the first.
“I told my team they’re going to make a run at you and you have to be able to sustain that,” Monroe said. “You have to play to your strengths and what gave you the lead in the first place. That was intensity and the break, and in the second half we didn’t have those.”
The Retrievers were led by Jerrell Dinkins and John Zito, who had 19 and 18 points respectively.
Bangor Daily News