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The men’s basketball team will host the Retrievers of the University of Maryland Baltimore-County tonight at 7 p.m.
The University of Maine Black Bears enter the game on a four-game skid and will attempt to defeat the newly crowned regular-season champion. The first time these two teams matched up, the Black Bears came away with a close 77-74 victory.
In the first meeting, UMaine was lead by Phil Tchekane Bofia with 21 points, Brian Andre with 14 points and Junior Bernal with 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Kaimondre Owes chipped in with 12 points while Mark Socoby put up 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Black Bears will be without Bernal for the fifth straight game due to a foot injury.
UMBC enters the game on an eight-game win streak – their longest streak since winning 11 straight in the 1998-99 season. The Retrievers are 20-7 overall and secured their first America East regular season title with a 71-68 victory over the University of New Hampshire on Feb. 23.
UMBC’s top four scorers rank in the top 13 in the conference. In the loss to UMaine, Brian Hodges lead the way with 21 points, Ray Barbosa added 19 points and Darryl Proctor and Cavell Johnson pitched in with 15 points and 10 points respectively.
The Black Bears know that in order to come out on top, they are going to have to contain UMBC’s scorers and control the boards.
“We need to focus on defense, stop the ball, box out, and get rebounds,” Owes said.
Maine out-rebounded UMBC 36-27 in the first matchup. The Black Bears committed 16 turnovers to the Retriever’s four in UMaine’s victory on Jan. 12.
“We need to take care of the ball and play more physical in order to win,” fourth-year Andre said. He said the Black Bears are going to have to cut down on the turnovers if they are going to be successful.
UMaine only has one game remaining – on March 2 they will travel to Vermont before going into the conference tournament.
“A win would be huge,” Owes said. “It would get confidence up in ourselves and in some of the players who have started to play more due to injuries.”
The Black Bears are 7-20 going into the game but credit the fans as part of why they stay positive.
“When things aren’t going so well, it’s nice to have support,” Andre said.
“It shows fans appreciate us, even though we come up short,” Owes said.
The game against UMBC marks the final men’s home game of the season, and the university will honor seniors Brian Andre and walk-on Pat Woodbrey. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. tonight.
Bangor Daily News