Sports

Fraser’s double-double leads UMaine past Machias

By Charlie Merritt

Posted on Nov. 16, 2011, at 9:05 p.m.

The University of Maine men’s basketball team opened the season with a win, beating the University of Maine at Machias 113-49 in the Pit.

Led by sophomore center Alasdair Fraser’s double-double, senior guard Gerald McLemore’s shooting stroke and freshman guard Justin Edwards’ highlight-reel dunks, the Clippers proved to be no match for the Black Bears.

Senior guard Andrew Rogers set the pace for the Black Bears, starting the game by hitting a deep three from the left elbow-extended. Moments later on the inbound, senior guard Raheem Singleton dished a low bounce pass to Fraser in middle of the lane, which he finished with an emphatic dunk.

This started a 15-0 run for the Black Bears, increasing the lead to 20-3 at the 6-minute point of the game.

The run was sparked by the backcourt of Rogers and Singleton, who consistently handed out passes to their teammates and set up good shots. The backcourt had four assists during the run and finished with 20 for the game — 11 for Rogers and nine for Singleton.

“It is always good to get off to a good start; our goal is to win every game, and tonight was No. 1,” Rogers said. “Every game we want to get better and tonight I thought we did that.”

Despite their big lead, UMaine continued to show great hustle. At the 11-minute mark with the Black Bears leading 26-8, Rogers tipped an inbound pass over a Machias player as he tried to catch the lob. Rogers sprinted down the court, beat the Machias player and turned to fire a bullet pass to the streaking McLemore for the lay-in. The points were two of McLemore’s 18 in the first half, as he seemed to already be in mid-season form.

McLemore shot the lights out, finishing 3-4 from beyond the arc and 7-9 overall in the first half. His high shooting percentage is a testament to how well the Black Bears passed the basketball, as the team finished the game shooting 69.8 percent.

“It is about making extra passes,” Fraser said. “One extra pass gets the guy wide open for the shot, as opposed to trying to do it yourself.”

UMaine continued to run Machias out of the gym by using their superior athleticism and size. At the 9-minute mark, Edwards caught a pass on the baseline from Rogers and brought the house down with his first of three dunks in the game.

UMaine continued to extend their lead as their new starter, freshman forward Killian Cato, knocked down his third three of the half. UMaine led 63-32 at halftime.

Cato will take over the starting role for injured junior forward Mike Allison, who will be out for four to six weeks.

“Killian is an excellent passer from the top of the key and can shoot it,” said head coach Ted Woodward.

The second half was not much different from the first; after a slow start, McLemore hit a three from the baseline 2 minutes in and Rogers hit a three on the next possession. Fraser continued to do his work in the post, knocking down his patented soft jumper in the middle on his way to 19 points and 12 rebounds.

UMaine continued to play welland displayed great chemistry after Machias switched to an extended half-court match-up zone. UMaine quickly swung the ball around the perimeter, finding junior forward Jon McAllian, who then zipped a no-look pass from the elbow to senior forward Svetoslav Chetinov for the layup.

“We wanted to play together, play hard and develop chemistry for 40 minutes, and we did that,” Woodward said.

The crowd did not leave the Pit unentertained. With 4 minutes remaining, Edwards finished a fast break with a loud slam but wasn’t done yet. With a minute and change left, Edwards caught the ball on the left side, jabbed to the right, crossed back over to his left and leapt from the block, making a poster of an unlucky Clipper.

Edwards finished with 24 points — 13 in the second half — nine rebounds and three blocks.

“Two points is two points,” Edwards said with a smile of the massive slam.

UMaine will travel Thursday to take on reigning national champions, the University of Connecticut.

“It is going to be fun, and it is going to be a test,” Rogers said.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011, 9:05 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.