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In a Sunday matinee contest the Boston University Terriers came to the Alfond and showed why they were the preseason favorite to win the conference, clawing back from 18 down to beat the Black Bears with a final score of 73-62.
The banged up and battered Terriers came to UMaine (8-12, 3-4 America East) missing two key players, one of them their starting point guard, and on the final leg of a brutal four-game in seven days stretch that included four overtime and a two overtime victory.
UMaine was able to capitalize early on a clearly worn down BU (10-9, 5-2 AE) team, building an 18-point lead by the middle of the first half. But as seconds ticked away, the Terriers seemed to get their legs back under them and were able to cut the lead to just eight at entering the second half.
That was when the tables turned.
Boston University began raining threes from all over the court.
“Our mindset coming out in the second half was that we were going to set the tempo,” said BU guard John Holland who finished with 23 points.
He, along with teammate Jake O’Brien, did just that. The two combined to shoot a scorching 7-for-11 from distance in the second half, a stark contrast to the 4-for-13 mark the whole team recorded in the first frame.
“I wanted to come out and be aggressive,” O’Brien said. “I just hit my groove, and the shot felt good tonight.”
And as the threes rained down for BU, UMaine fell into an offensive slump-befuddled by the Terriers adjusted defensive scheme.
“They were sagging off Junior [Bernal] a lot and it was clogging up the lane,” sophomore forward Sean McNally said. “It took away our penetration and threw us off our game.”
The six-foot-seven McNally was unable to get many looks in the second half because Bernal’s defender left him to deny the entry pass to the post. They gambled that Bernal would not be able to punish them by making open midrange shots and their gamble paid off.
All told, the Boston University Terriers outscored Maine 42-to-24 in the second half thanks to inspired play on both ends of the floor.
“When Maine got us down early we could have caved but we didn’t,” BU coach Dennis Wolff said. “I’m very proud of them.”
UMaine coach Ted Woodward was similarly impressed by the team’s effort and tipped his cap to them after the game.
“You don’t have a lot of margin for error in a game like this,” he conceded. “That’s a good basketball team; I give them credit.”
The Black Bears finish their three-game homestand on a sour note, but they have proven that they can rumble with the best the America East has to offer. The next stop for UMaine is Burlington, Vt., where they will test their mettle against the Catamounts, who come into the game with an overall record of 14-6 and 5-2 in America East.
Bangor Daily News