March 28, 2024
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Bears stop Hawks on Jackson FTs Late heroics preserve UMaine verdict

HARTFORD, Conn. – Sophomore guard Derrick Jackson sank two free throws with two seconds left to put Maine up by three and Hartford’s Wayne McClint missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer to give the Maine men a 66-63 victory Thursday night.

The Black Bears had to get some late heroics to pull out the surprisingly tough America East Conference men’s basketball win over the Hawks.

The Bears improved to 15-6 overall and 8-4 in the conference while Hartford sank to 4-16 (1-10).

Maine survived a subpar effort on the boards as the Hawks outrebounded them 22-12 offensively and 49-32 overall.

“Two things we did poorly were rebounding – our rebounding was absolutely atrocious – and [attack their pressure],” said Maine coach John Giannini. “When we broke their pressure, we weren’t getting into our offenses quick enough and the shot clock was running down … but then we just missed a lot of great shots.”

Maine shot 37.7 percent from the field overall. Hartford was 36.1 percent overall. Both teams were 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from 3-point range.

“I just thank God that our defense was good enough to win in spite of our missed shots and poor rebounding,” Giannini said.

The Bears committed 11 turnovers to Hartford’s 17 and held the Hawks without a field goal in the final 89 seconds.

Junior guard Errick Greene led the Bears’ scoring attack with a career-high 23 points. It was Greene who broke a 59-59 tie by converting a three-point play with 53 seconds to go.

“We came out of a timeout and got the ball to Errick on the low block, where he spun, drew a foul, and made the hoop,” Giannini said.

Senior forward Julian Dunkley had eight of his 13 points in the second half while junior guard Huggy Dye scored all of his 11 points in the first half.

Maine’s largest lead in the game was 10 points midway through the first half. Hartford, whose biggest lead was two points (50-48 with 8:25 left in the game) had lead only three times in the game.

Keyon Smith led the Hawks with 16 points and nine rebounds. Mantas Storpirstis scored 13 points.

“I think that the difference of playing on the road, and Hartford just doing a great job were two factors [keeping the game so close],” Giannini said.

Black Bears 66, Hawks 63

Maine (15-6) Hartford (4-16)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Dunkley 3 10 7 8 13 Bosley 2 2 4

Greene 8 11 7 13 23 Odugbela 4 11 1 2 9

Ammons 2 7 0 0 4 Jones 1 2 2

Jackson 2 3 4 4 8 McClinton 2 11 0 0 5

Dye 4 14 0 2 11 Smith 5 11 6 16

Cavalieri 1 8 2 2 5 Rozier 0 0 1

Haynes 0 0 2 2 2 Storpirstis 1 5

Stys 4 11 3 13

Sawicki 2 6 0 4

Johnson 1 2 2 4

Totals 20 53 22 31 66 Totals 22 61 15 21 63

Maine 35 66

Hartford 32 63

3-pt. goals: Maine (4-17): Dye 3-9, Cavalieri 1-5, Jackson 0-1, Dunkley 0-2; Hartford (4-17): Stys 2-3, Storpirstis 1-4, McClinton 1-5, Sawicki 0-2, Smith 0-3

Attendance: 714


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