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When it comes to conference play, each game is as important as the next, no matter the opponent.
The University of Maine men’s basketball team (10-10, 4-5 America East) defeated the winless Binghamton Bearcats 67-59 to earn their second straight conference victory.
After Binghamton jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, senior guard Gerald McLemore showed why he is the third-highest scorer in America east, averaging 18.1 points per game. McLemore scored his first 3-pointer of the game after a pump fake sent a Binghamton defender airborne, allowing McLemore to step around and hit a tough 3 off the dribble.
His next time down the court, McLemore came off another screen from the baseline and hit his second 3 in as many possessions. After a backdoor layup by McLemore on a nice set up from senior guard Andrew Rogers, UMaine took an 11-8 lead with 13 minutes left on their way to a 14-2 spurt and never trailed again.
McLemore had 13 points on 5-8 shooting in the first half and finished with 15 for the game.
“[Binghamton is] in every game that they play,” McLemore said. “We knew that if we sat back and relaxed, we could have easily lost by 15 or 20.”
Junior forward Mike Allison made his present felt early on, taking advantage of a smaller Binghamton forward who couldn’t keep the big man off the glass. The biggest highlight for Allison came as Rogers drove the baseline, drawing two defenders before slipping the ball to Allison for a one-handed dunk.
Allison finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
“I had a mismatch on the glass and I tried to take advantage of that as much as I could,” Allison said. “Everyone crashed the glass hard and it left with me a lot of opportunities.”
The energized crowd at Alfond Arena got a chance to burst out with 1:30 left in the first half. Rogers forced a turnover and pushed the ball quickly as freshman guard Justin Edwards sprinted on the left wing to catch up. Rogers made eye contact with Edwards before throwing an alley-oop pass to Edwards that he finished with two hands, bringing the Black Bear faithful to their feet.
Edwards finished with a team-high 18 points and chipped in five rebounds.
“We forced a few throw-ahead [passes] in transition when we didn’t need to, but the effort was there,” said UMaine head coach Ted Woodward. “We worked hard this week and are looking forward to our bye week.”
UMaine led 31-24 at halftime then jumped out to a hot start in the first 5 minutes, going on a 16-3 run fueled by seven points from Edwards early in the half. UMaine continued to rebound and held on despite a late run by Binghamton, cutting it to 52-45 with just under 8 minutes left. UMaine knocked down their free throws and won 67-59.
Allison earned America East Player of the Game and Binghamton’s Jimmy Gram led all scorers with a career-high 24 points.
“Even after losing five in a row, we knew we had to just keep pushing forward and stay positive either way,” McLemore said.
UMaine will play at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Feb. 4 and return home to host the University of Vermont on Feb. 6.
Bangor Daily News