Deemed the “blackout in a can,” Four Loko has college kids going loco and the Food and Drug Administration dashing to get the alcoholic energy drink and all others like it canned for good. In prohibition 2010, clearly the Man is coming for the florescent can.

On Wednesday, the FDA, fueled by concerns from college officials as well as numerous other state and media authorities, warned four companies about their “unsafe food additive” — the combination of caffeine and alcoholic malt beverages — giving them 15 days to reformulate their products or risk a total recall.

A duo sure to make even the most experienced of drinkers crash in the fast lane, caffeine and alcohol, with a little help from economic feasibility, form the drunkard’s ultimate trifecta, where the drinker hurtles toward wasted without a blasted, quantifiable clue. Where the cheap buzz is a college student’s wet dream, Four Loko’s funnel fantasy is a health nightmare, causing hearts to race, but not in a good way.

One 23.5 fluid-ounce can of Four Loko is said to be the equivalent of three beers, a can of Red Bull and a large espresso, and according to the FDA, causes walking blackouts, heart palpitations, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, alcohol poisoning and several other negative side effects.

It’s understandable that the FDA would seek to ban products like Four Loko and Joose, especially when the former sent nine students from Washington University to the hospital after one night of guzzling. But the FDA should really consider the fact that it’s hard to put things completely to rest when there’s caffeine involved.

An outright ban on alcoholic energy drinks is not the most effective route to resolution, especially when the only factor has to do with bodily safety. All alcohol is harmful in bulk and Four Loko’s danger lies exactly in that — quantity.

Therefore, rather than eliminating the option altogether, it’s far more logical to decrease the size of the can and the amount in an individual is serving. Shrink the proportions, hike the price and the problem will nullify.

Any type of prohibition has proved futile. People always seek more hazardous alternatives and suffer the consequences in secrecy. If the FDA is truly concerned for the welfare of young adult drinkers, they shouldn’t regulate them to mixing Red Bull and cheap vodka in tin bathtubs by carrying out a hasty re-collection.

Hotfooting the issue is only going to elongate the bootlegging and the resulting consequences won’t easily be taken in stride.

I donated blood. It wasn’t my first time, nor will it be my last, though this was the first time it involved some serious digging, and I don’t mean the sexually explicit questions you are asked beforehand.

Rather, it was the kind of digging that involves a small steel pipe and a very sneaky vein. Was it my fault my veins like to slither away once spotted? As I lay there becoming a pirate map, I had to think to myself about all the times I’ve had my blood taken and all of the times my veins retreated “Jaws”-style.

There has been many a nurse who has rolled her eyes at me and stabbed repeatedly until the blood filling the test tube wasn’t so much coming from the tube as it was collecting at the bottom of my elbow. While in this most recent moment I was semi-used to the sensation, after recalling how the first few times played out, on this day I felt violated.

I was coming in for one thing — a blood test — and instead was probed like a science experiment. While twirling a needle beneath your skin isn’t exactly grounds for molestation, it’s still startling.

At no point did I say aloud, “Really just do whatever you like, I mean, you’re wearing gloves so it’s probably fine,” and then sycophantically smile away as they took 10 minutes to find a blue squiggle. The stinging gave way to a bigger issue: personal space, something we can never have too much of.

In dorms it’s a war for it, on buses there’s an outcry, on airplanes people pay top dollar for approximately six more inches of space and yet now it’s law to violate it.

The pat-downs administered to passengers in airports have been met with an outburst of negativity. Not surprisingly, people don’t want to be manhandled. You can’t even sneeze near someone without a dirty look. Add an ass-grab to the end of that and see how things pan out.

The terribly serious side of things is that people with histories of sexual abuse are being thrown into these situations and forced to relive any violation they may have suppressed. Plain and simple, this is a violation of the fourth amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure. But more than that, it’s creepy.

It’s handing over your body to someone wearing gloves, all because of the elusive blue squiggle. Whether it be pumping a vital life source through you, or just a hair elastic in your pocket that came up suspicious on a screen, out come the gloves to play in your personal space.

All the photos I’ve seen of the process involve some grumpy man’s butt being squeezed by the blue plastic hands of an even grumpier-looking person. Stories of snide remarks and sexually aggressive ogling have also surfaced, and it’s sadly no surprise. You give any average Joe the license to cup at will and there will be those that abuse the privilege. It’s unfortunate.

If I bump into someone while spacing out, my face flushes. Hell, I’ve accidentally brushed crotches enough times to know it’s the sort of thing you internally gasp about and then walk away from.

So what is it that makes this OK? What makes that doctor unabashedly squeeze and pinch? Their degree?

Yes, the paper on the wall makes everything seem much more professional, but no one looks forward to a physical just the same. Now the people that have to full-body grope you while your luggage is at arm’s distance don’t have a wall with their kid’s drawings on it to quell your fears.

I lay there, on the slab, looking up as people run around the track and watched my Red Cross aide play pin-the-vein-on-the-redhead. Maybe it’s time for us to take up a proper argument. There’s no reason to be ashamed of being uncomfortable and if that’s what we’re forced to feel, then that’s not the violated person’s issue.

The airports, like the table, are forums, and not being quiet is the first great step. The gloves need to come off on both sides.

Sarah Mann is a fourth-year English student. Her columns will appear every Monday.

Why does the atheist have such a blackened image? Do our beliefs warrant the comment from George Bush Sr., “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”

America appears to be moderately tolerant towards different beliefs, yet atheism doesn’t seem to fit into this irrational puzzle of anemic acceptance.

We tolerate Catholics, Christians, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, even Buddhists and those who label themselves ‘spiritual,’ but as an atheist, I feel like I should be donning black, muttering in a closet somewhere with “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and a handle of vodka.

Atheists are assumed to be unstable wanderers, picking up alcoholism, depression and failed marriages like dandelions along their dark path of meaningless existence. To whom do we go for help? What is life without the belief in God? Apparently, we have nothing to hope for, nothing to believe in.

Allow me to illuminate the reality of the atheist, using myself as the example.  Atheists typically know a little something about religion. I have more than a general knowledge about the Christian idea of ‘God.’ For 16 years, I attended Christian or Catholic schools, subsequently, from the first grade forward. Daily Bible reading was mandatory and biblical theology courses were required each semester.

Moreover, the Bible is the book which I have read most frequently and one which I continue to read. I have read and studied the book under both literalist and liberal teachings. I have studied under religious fanatics and pragmatists, dissected the classics from Anselm and Augustine to Spinoza and Aquinas.

I’ve attended Sunday school and Jesus camps, evangelical churches and congregational churches; I’ve ‘experienced’ the holy spirit and praying in tongues. I have seen the evil religion has done in the name of God; I have seen the good deeds accomplished by religion. After all this, I am an atheist, and admittedly I am still somewhat human and the last time I checked, I was an American citizen.

In the words of Stephen Roberts, “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”  There exists only one difference between you and me, and it depends on your viewpoint.

I see the difference as you believing in God and me not believing in god. You may perceive this as my soul willingly cannon-balling into Lucifer’s lair, chained in eternal perdition. That’s fine. An atheist refrains from a logical response when eternal damnation enters the conversation, just as one would cease attempting to reason with someone who claims they had an imaginary friend.

The crux is that people throughout the world have different religious experiences, believe in different gods, follow diverse traditions and read different holy books. Who are we to say that the religion we were born into or the god we follow is the only path to eternal life in the next world? Who are we to consider ourselves the spiritually elite?

Ultimately, it is my attempt to ameliorate the denigrated face of atheism, to shatter the stereotype coupled to its name, to show that we atheists do wear color; we do indeed smile, and our aim in life, just as yours, is to live well, to treat others with kindness and respect, to love our families and friends, to embrace integrity and character. We live for this life and find meaning in ourselves and the world around us.

I will leave you with Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s words on her recently adopted atheism, “It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely; we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.”

Erin Mccann is a fourth-year biology student.

When mall rushes become too crowded; online buying, complicated; random stores, obnoxious; and gift cards, too impersonal, we should turn to Black Friday.

Black Friday, a holiday in its own right, is an adrenaline rush of an experience for deal-seeking shoppers, sure to wake up your senses and put gifts in the hands of others.

Ever since I was a little girl, my mother would take me shopping on Black Friday. We would get up around 3 a.m. and drive to the city we felt had the best selection of stores with sales that year.

Standing in a line wrapping around the parking lot of a major retail store in late November weather was always my least favorite part of the adventure as a kid, but with the store workers providing hot chocolate and coffee to those waiting in line, the cold dissipated.

The doors open and people begin to push into the store, sometimes literally. The excitement and adrenaline guide us to the items in the sales flyer that are way more inexpensive than we could ever understand.

How do the companies make any money? No matter, we shop on and laugh evilly at what we think is the steal of the century.

What keeps people going on Black Friday is not the limited amount of coffee they can score from a cart rolling by at 3:30 a.m., but the cheap prices and adventure. The thrill of deals and the feeling of getting away with items that seem ridiculously under-priced is what keeps us going back year after year.

With items like laptops more than half off their usual price, DVDs at $4 and $10 video games, the deals are beyond desirable whether money is limited for you or not. Who doesn’t like a good deal?

You can feel confident in giving your mother DVDs of the sappy movies she has wanted all year and your lover a digital picture frame they can sit on their desk at work because thanks to the Black Friday thrills, they won’t cost you much at all.

For those still unsure whether you should partake in the madness, remember the days when you were a kid and your family would take you shopping during the holiday months. Your parents would send you away in the store to look at random items so they could fill the cart with gifts for you and hide them under their coats.

Well, now you are an adult and likely have a few dollars to your name. Understanding college students are not the richest folks in the world, a few dollars will still go a long way on Black Friday, so buy gifts for your loved ones this year without being sent off to frolic in the store without a purpose.

So after you are satiated with turkey, stuffing and pie, get some sleep so you will be able to wake up at 3 a.m. and enjoy some early morning shopping.

Trust me, the deals are worth the effort and once you have successfully purchased something for everyone on your list, go home and get some rest. I bet you will have pleasant dreams knowing you no longer have to worry about last minute shopping and if you forgot to get something for the neighbor’s dog. The thrills and money saved will enhance your holiday season tenfold.

Heather Pilling is a second-year English student. She is a copy editor for The Maine Campus.

This response comes as we also see a “Notice to bidders / manufactures” from UMaine in the Nov. 15 Bangor Daily News, which is a request for proposals for a “… boiler … firing natural gas and / or landfill gas.”

In The Maine Campus article, Old Town City Manager Peggy Daigle dismisses concerns about Kennedy’s involvement by describing landfill opponents as “trying to cloud the issue by being so aggressively passionate about their angst over the landfill and anything landfill-related …” The Great Works LLC is entirely funded with Juniper Ridge Landfill (JRL) money that Old Town gets from Casella, the landfill’s operator. Currently, UMaine and Casella are negotiating a contract for Casella to sell landfill gas from JRL to the university. So we do not think it is much of a stretch to see a connection.

Since 2003 when JRL was created, Casella has applied for and been granted numerous licenses to bring more waste of more kinds — including much of it generated outside of Maine — to JRL. These new licenses have greatly expanded the original legally allowed waste streams. In June, Casella was granted approval to bring treated biomedical waste, at least 65 percent of it of non-Maine origin, to JRL.

Casella’s request for a huge expansion of JRL is “in the pipeline.” Juniper Ridge is already the highest point in Old Town. It is already larger than Pine Tree Landfill that we all can see from I-95 in Hampden. Casella wants to expand JRL to at least four times its current size. What will feed the landfill when it is turned into a gas production facility? How, where and by whom will the gas be cleaned to collect the useful methane fraction and removed toxic contaminants?

The university’s involvement is with Casella and its projects is a bad choice. The landfill gas project will provide an incentive to bring as much trash as possible as quickly as possible to JRL, providing a new incentive for the expansion and its increased hazards not far from the UMaine campus. I believe that Kennedy’s involvement with a Casella-funded economic development board is problematic. I would like to see the university hold a public information meeting to update the UMaine community on the pipeline project and its negotiations with Casella as well as Kennedy’s membership on the Great Works LLC.

Chuck Leithiser and Edward Spencer, Old Town residents

The key difference in each contest were power plays, where the Eagles blanked the Black Bears, killing off all 12 power plays for UMaine this weekend.

The Black Bears fall to 6-3-3 on the season and 4-2-1 in Hockey East play, while the 10th-ranked Eagles improved to 8-4 on the year and 6-3 in HEC play.

The first period Friday night started out slow, with both teams taking turns controlling the other team’s defensive zone.

The first chance for the Black Bears came four minutes into the period, when junior forward Gustav Nyquist found fellow junior forward Spencer Abbott for a clean look on Eagles’ goalie John Muse. Muse was able to deflect the puck clear and keep the game scoreless.

Not even a minute later, sophomore forward Joey Diamond crushed BC center Brian Gibbons, earning him a five-minute major for boarding. The teams played four-on-four for two minutes while defender Patrick Way was in the box with an interference penalty.

During the three-minute man-advantage, freshman goalie Dan Sullivan and the Black Bears collectively blocked every opportunity the Eagles threw toward the net.

The Black Bears earned the best opportunity on the penalty kill, when Nyquist was tied up on a breakaway, and was awarded a penalty shot. Nyquist’s trickery was no problem to Muse, as the BC goalie stopped the shot with his right pad. The stop seemed to be a momentum changer, as the Eagles took control of the game after that point.

“I tried to make a move, make him slide a bit to the right,” Nyquist said. “I stopped and he bit on it and I didn’t really get it up and Muse made a great save. It could have been a whole different game if I would have scored there.”

“It was big,” head coach Tim Whitehead said about the missed penalty shot. “You never know if it’s going to be important, but I think if [Nyquist] scores there it gives us a big lift.”

The scoreless night for Nyquist ends a streak of consecutive games with a point at 11 games, dating back to last season.

Back-to-back penalties by the Black Bears put them in a difficult predicament — down two men to a highly talented team. The Eagles made the most of UMaine’s miscue when forward Paul Carey put the Eagles up front 1-0 off assists by Gibbons and forward Joe Whitney.

Each team had four players spend time in the sin bin during the first period, but the Eagles capitalized on the chances much more than the Black Bears did. On the Black Bears’ final power play of the period, Sullivan attempted to clear the puck out of his zone, but the puck ended up on Gibbons’ stick. Gibbons flicked the puck into the net before Sullivan could get into position, giving the Eagles the 2-0 lead on the short-handed goal.

“I tried to fake [Gibbons], but he read it like a book,” Sullivan said. “There’s not too much distance between the boards and the back of the net. It’s a little different from our rink, that’s something I’ll have to get used to.”

Just 20 seconds into the second period, the Black Bears got an early power play opportunity, but were unable to connect on anything.

Under eight minutes into the second period, the Eagles added another, expanding their lead to 3-0. After a block by a UMaine defender, forward Tommy Atkinson snuck the shot past Sullivan, as the puck crept slowly through his legs and across the red line. Center Patrick Brown and defender Brian Dumoulin assisted on the sophomore’s first collegiate goal.

The Eagles controlled the pace in the second period, but was interrupted by various penalties. After the Eagles killed off the Black Bears’ second power play of the period midway through, BC withstood an onslaught of Black Bear chances during a 5-3 chance with less than five minutes remaining in the period.

Muse continued to demonstrate why he is one of the best goalies in the country, as the Black Bears failed to score through two periods for only the third time this season.

“Johnny Muse played real well, made some big saves,” Whitehead said. “That obviously contributed to our power play doughnut.”

The Black Bears continued to get power play chances, yet Muse and BC foiled every opportunity and cashed in on theirs. Right after a UMaine power play completed, the Eagles scored off of the face off on the opening of their power play. Center Pat Mullane found the net for the fourth Eagle goal of the game, assisted by Dumoulin and fellow defender Philip Samuelsson.

Sullivan was relieved after letting in the fourth goal, and sophomore Shawn Sirman took his place between the pipes.

“Not his best,” Whitehead said of Sullivan’s performance. “He’s been so consistent and so sharp for us. If a goalie makes a mistake, everyone notices. A lot of guys made mistakes tonight.”

The end of the period saw more Black Bear power plays with no goals, as they went 0-7 on the power play, and ended up scoreless for the first time this season, losing to the defending national champions 4-0.

“Special teams cost us tonight,” Whitehead said. “It’s been a strength of ours, but not tonight. We’re 0-7 and they were 2-4.”

Black Bear senior defender Jeff Dimmen left the game with an apparent leg injury. His status for Sunday is questionable. His injury adds to the woes in the UMaine defense, with senior Will O’Neill already sidelined with a lower body injury.

The Eagles scored on two separate power plays, as well as a short-handed goal.

“They’re a good team and we didn’t come ready to play,” senior defender Josh Van Dyk said. “They took it to us and we played soft.”

The second game mirrored much of the first, with very little contribution from the UMaine power play, while the Eagles capitalized on one of their three man advantages.

BC took the lead just two minutes into the game. Atkinson fired a shot just inside the blue line, which Sullivan deflected right to forward Paul Carey, who slid the puck passed Sullivan for his third goal of the season.

The Black Bears followed the Eagles’ goal with one of their own — their first in over four periods. Sophomore defender Mark Nemec grabbed his first goal of the season off an assist from junior defender Ryan Hegarty.

Five minutes later, the Eagles regained the lead, and proceeded to bury the Black Bears’ hopes with a following goal 40 seconds later. Forward Bill Arnold scored the second Eagles’ goal of the game off a pass from forward Steven Whitney.

The latter of the rapid succession of goals was led by Carey and his second goal of the game. After passes from Atkinson and Samuelsson, Carey put the rebound off his own shot past Sullivan.

The Eagles added an empty goal to seal the weekend sweep, handing the Black Bears their first losing streak of the season.

The Black Bears finish the season at 4-7 and 3-5 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while James Madison improved to 6-5 and 3-5 in CAA play.

Maine took possession of the ball with 3:49 remaining in the game, trailing James Madison 14-10. Needing to put together a 68-yard drive in the waning moments to win the game, they were only able to get 65 — sophomore tight end Jeff Falvey was tackled at the three-yard line as time expired.

The final drive that came up short was arguably Maine’s best all game. It spanned 16 plays and included three third-down conversions as well as a critical fourth-down conversion with 17 seconds left.

With a time-out remaining and the ball at the three-yard line it appeared that UMaine was going to bid farewell to the senior class with a dramatic last-second victory. Instead they ran the ball for no gain, called their last time-out, and ran a tight end screen play short of the goal line.

“I’m hurting on that one, I take full responsibility,” head coach Jack Cosgrove said about the final sequence.

It was an emotional loss on an emotional day for 12 seniors playing their final game. Offensive lineman Matt Barber; cornerback Steven Barker; offensive lineman Alex Batanian; linebacker Levi Ervin; defensive end Omar Jacobs; wide receiver Tyrell Jones; fullback Conor Keating; wide receiver Jeremy Kelley; linebacker Mark Masterson, linebacker Ryan McCrossan; defensive lineman Ryan Nani; and wide receiver Desmond Randall were all honored before the last home game of their careers.

At first, things were promising for the Black Bears. James Madison won the coin toss and elected for their defense to take the field first — a unit that surrendered only 15.2 points per game, good for second in the CAA.

UMaine countered this strategic move by the Dukes, embarking on an 11-play, 73-yard drive that ended with junior quarterback Warren Smith’s 4-yard touchdown plunge.

A fake punt highlighted the drive on fourth-and-two in which junior halfback Pushaun Brown scampered 19 yards, setting the Bears up with a first down inside James Madison territory.

After an impressive opening touchdown drive, the Black Bear defense matched their intensity. The first four drives of the game for James Madison resulted in a three-and-out, turnover on downs after just four plays, three-and-out and a punt. Unfortunately for UMaine they were plagued by offensive ineptitude as well after their initial scoring drive: two punts, and interception and a blocked field goal.

After an efficient yet unspectacular 10-play drive, sophomore kicker Brian Harvey’s 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by the Dukes’ redshirt sophomore Chase Williams.
Just before halftime the Dukes retained possession at the Maine 46-yard line with a short field.

The Dukes reached into their bag of tricks, with what looked like a jet-sweep to quarterback Dae-Quan Scott, but turned into the longest passing play of the game. Scott, who primarily played quarterback, lined up at wide receiver and came in motion. He took the handoff from senior quarterback Drew Dudzik and launched an arching spiral that found the open wide receiver Renard Robinson, putting the Dukes at the 13-yard line of the Black Bears.

Six plays later, James Madison found the end zone and tied the game at seven.

Despite the long connection, the passing game was relatively quiet for both teams. Dudzik and Scott combined to go 6-8 for 64 yards and an interception while Maine’s Smith completed 23 of 38 for 108 yards and an interception.

“It was difficult to throw the ball in that high wind today,” James Madison head coach Mickey Matthews said. “The ball really took off.”

To account for a lack of passing game, James Madison ran a heavy dose of senior running back Jamal Sullivan (19 carries, 61 yards) and used Scott’s unique athleticism (17 carries, 78 yards).

It was Scott who turned in the play of the game. On the fifth play of the opening drive of the second half, Scott ran outside to the right and broke the first tackle; following that was a spin move that made two defenders miss while creating a seam in the second level of the defense. He hit the seam, evaded one more tackler and 43 yards later, was in the end zone, giving James Madison a 14-7 advantage.

The play was the lone blemish on the day for an outstanding Black Bear defense, which surrendered only 204 yards of total offense and limiting the Dukes to only four of 11 on third down.

“We fit well, he’s a good player, he made a play,” said junior middle linebacker Donte Dennis, who, along with sophomore linebacker Troy Russell, had a game high 11 tackles on the afternoon.

“We just missed tackles [on that play]. It should have been a two yard gain, then a five yard gain, then a 12 yard gain,” Cosgrove said.

Maine’s ensuing drive was a strong response. Pushaun Brown carried UMaine inside the red zone with tough running, including a highlight reel 25-yard run.

The drive stalled at the 19-yard line but as Brian Harvey lined up to attempt a field goal, Maine was flagged for a false start. Instead of a 37-yarder, the attempt was from 42 yards, and Harvey pushed it wide left, contributing to Maine’s anemic 40 percent red zone scoring percentage on the day.

Nearing the end of the third quarter the turning point in the game occurred. Having already converted a third down on a Smith 16-yard scramble earlier in the possession, UMaine faced third-and-one near mid-field. Smith put a pass on the hands of junior halfback Derek Session, who was unable to corral it.

Forced to kick it away, junior punter Jordan Waxman’s punt was muffed on the other end by Scott. Initially, it appeared Maine recovered the fumble, but James Madison emerged from the pile with the ball.

“We made some big mistakes, [we] failed to capitalize on opportunities that could have changed the outcome of the game,” Cosgrove said.

After junior cornerback Jerron McMillian intercepted Scott, Maine was able to tack on a Brian Harvey field goal from 23 yards out and push the score to where it would remain, 14-10.

Perhaps the most important drive of the day from either side came after the field goal. James Madison began a drive at their own 41 line and ended at the Maine 32. Going into the wind, James Madison decided to go for it on fourth-and-nine rather than try a 42-yard field goal, but Scott was sacked by freshman defensive end Michael Cole.

The Dukes turned it back over on downs to the Black Bears, but not before running 10 plays and taking up 6:20 of the fourth quarter.

“We would have liked to get off the field sooner at the end,” Cosgrove said, referencing two big third down conversions by the Dukes that enabled more time to run off.

The turnover set up Maine for their final drive, which ended in heartbreak.

“It was just a two-minute drill; we had to go score a touchdown. I thought we made plays to extend the drive,” Smith said. “We have to finish to be a championship team.”

On this day it was James Madison who finished.

“I told our guys on that last drive that if we tackle we’ll win the game. We tackled poorly all game,” Matthews said.

After the game Smith acknowledged the work that needs to be done before the 2011 campaign.

“We are going to be a better team offensively next year. I promise you that,” he said.

“It’s a tough break and a tough way to end,” said Cosgrove. “The plan was for us to sing the Stein Song at mid-field when this one was over.”

Forty-five seconds into the contest, the theme of the game had been set. After forcing turnovers or perimeter jumpers from the Clippers, junior point guard Raheem Singleton would start the break pushing the ball to eventually find Maine’s high rising sophomore forward Murphy Burnatowski for one of his highlight reel dunks.

The up-tempo style displayed by the Black Bears Friday night was led by Burnatowski, who finished with 17 points on a 7-7 shooting night from the field including 3-3 from behind the arc.

The Black Bears entered the contest at 1-1, with their line loss coming against Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse the University of Maryland, so it was relieving for head coach Ted Woodward to come home.

“I really wanted to see us improve in a lot of areas tonight, and we did that,” Woodward said. “After a tough game on the road at Maryland it was great to play at home in front of our own fans.”

The key to the game was Singleton’s smart decision making. When UMaine forced turnovers and bad shots from the Clippers, coach Woodward would instantly yell to “push it” to take advantage of UMaine’s dominant speed and athleticism over UMM. With the ball always in Singleton’s hands, he finished with eight assists and just one turnover.

The 23 assists by the Black Bears led to easy buckets and a field goal percentage of 62.5 percent, including a remarkable first half of 73.3 percent. Junior guard Gerald McLemore also regained his stroke, going 4-8 from behind the arc, finishing with 13 points. The Black Bears’ size was too intimidating for the Clippers, as they scored 48 points in the paint to the UMM’s two.

While UMM is not an America East Conference opponent, a game like this still helps the team, Woodward pointed out.

“Every game helps moving forward. Some guys get minutes and every bit of experience helps. The plays we go over in practice need to be run in game situations,” Woodward said.

The practice will help as the Black Bears move forward on what looks to be a promising season with high expectations. Yet star forward Burnatowski does not seem to be worried.

“We’re not worried about expectations; anything can happen. Last year we were projected eighth and came in third.”

The Black Bears travel to Big East power, the University of Notre Dame to face the fighting Irish on Monday, and play their next home game Nov. 29 against Quinnipiac University.

The win brought the Black Bears to 1-1, while the Bulldogs dropped to 0-3.

The Black Bears came back from a nine-point deficit at the break, outscoring the Bulldogs 43-26 in the second half to hand Bryant their third-straight loss to start this season.

The Black Bears were led by freshman Amber Smith, who doubled her high score from the season opener, ending with 22 points. Three other Black Bears also scored in double figures in the victory, with freshman and sophomore guards Ashleigh Roberts and Katelyn Vanderhoff chiming in with 12 points each and junior forward Samantha Wheeler finishing with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The game was evenly contested through the midpoint of the first half, until the Bulldogs ripped off a 14-4 run to take a 29-18 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs would take a 40-31 lead into halftime, led by forward Siamone Bennett’s 15 first-half points. Bennett finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds.

With more than 13 minutes remaining in the game, Vanderhoff brought the Black Bears back, scoring on three straight possessions, narrowing the deficit from nine to two.

Senior guard Tanna Ross tied the game at 50 with just under 11 minutes remaining. Vanderhoff gave the Black Bears their first lead of the second half with a little over five minutes remaining.

UMaine would not relinquish the lead from that point on, as the Black Bears grabbed their first victory of the season.

The Black Bears return to Alfond Arena Tuesday night to take on Central Connecticut State.