DETROIT, Mich. – The only time the University of Maine had ever beaten Michigan State in eight previous meetings was in a December tournament: the 1987-88 Nissan/Jeep Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. Maine beat the Spartans 4-3 in overtime in the championship game.

The Bears are now 2-0 against Michigan State in December tournaments as sophomore left winger Brian Downey scored a pair of goals to lead Maine to a 6-3 win over the Spartans in the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament at Joe Louis Arena here Friday night.

Maine, 14-4-1, will now meet 13-5-3 Michigan, a 2-1 winner over Michigan Tech, in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game. Michigan State, 10-9-4, will face Michigan Tech, 8-12-2, in the 4 p.m. consolation game.

The Bears took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Justin Tomberlin and Keith Carney and never trailed although the Spartans overcame a pair of three-goal deficits to pull within one, 4-3, late in the third period.

But Downey capitalized on the power play with just 2:58 remaining to regain the two-goal bulge.

Carney’s 30-foot drive glanced off the post to the left of Michigan State goalie Jason Muzzatti and Downey flipped the rebound into the open short side corner.

Maine iced the win 1:08 later when Jean-Yves Roy and Jim Montgomery hooked up on what turned out to be a 2-on-0. Roy fed the pass across to Montgomery, who shoveled it into the short side.

Tomberlin opened the scoring at the 12:13 mark when he dumped the puck behind the MSU net; pounced on the loose puck after Martin Robitaille and Muzzatti collided behind the net and swept it into the empty net.

Carney made it 2-0 off a two-on-one with Robitaille as he took a pass from Scott Pellerin, waited for MSU defenseman Jason Woolley to drop to the ice and then slipped it to Carney, who deposited into the open net.

Downey made it 3-0 at the 1:23 mark of the second period when he converted off a Montgomery set up from 10 feet out.

Kerry Russell cut the lead to 3-1 on the power play with a drive from the midpoint that beat Maine goalie Garth Snow low and to the glove side.

But Pellerin got that one right back off a face-off as Robitaille won the draw to Muzzatti’s right and snapped a quick shot that rebounded to Pellerin. Pellerin slid it past Muzzatti to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games.

“That goal was the turning point in the game,” said Maine Coach Shawn Walsh. “Robitaille saw nobody going to the net defensively.”

Early in the third period, Bryan Smolinski made it 4-2 with a power-play drive from the midpoint.

Then, with just under five minutes left, Dwayne Norris jammed home a shot off a Russell pass from behind the net to pull the Spartans within one.

But Downey and Montgomery sewed it up for the Bears.

Montgomery’s assist on Downey’s first goal enabled him to tie the school record for longest point-scoring streak. Montgomery has now registered a point in 23 consecutive games to tie Guy Perron’s record set during the 1988-89 season.

“Our game plan was to play well positionally, nothing exciting, and that’s what we did,” said Walsh. “Michigan State did not generate many five-on-five chances and we limited any second chances.”

Snow finished with 24 saves and Muzzatti had 18.

Black Bears 6, Spartans 3

Maine 2 2 2 – 6 Michigan State 0 1 2 – 3

First Period – 1. Maine, Tomberlin 4 (unassisted), 12:13; 2. Maine, Carney 2 (Pellerin, Robitaille), 16:14. Penalties – MSU, Stewart, hooking, 4:27; Maine, Robitaille, hooking, 5:08; Maine, Murphy, holding, 14:03.

Second Period – 3. Maine, Downey 10 (Montgomery), 1:23; 4. MSU, Russell 13 (Woolley, Heaphy), 13:03; 5. Maine, Pellerin 12 (Robitaille), 14:46. Penalties – MSU, Cummins, cross checking, 8:21; Maine, Murphy, holding, 11:37; Maine, Martin, holding, 12:55; MSU, Smolinski, tripping, 14:42; Maine, LaCouture, high sticking, 17:37; Maine, bench minor for too many men on the ice (served by Tepper), 19:17.

Third Period – 6. MSU, Smolinski 7 (Heaphy), :13; 7. MSU, Norris 15 (Russell, Woodward), 15:21; 8. Maine, Downey 11 (Carney, Montgomery), 17:02; 9. Maine, Montgomery 12 (Roy), 18:10. Penalties – MSU, Perreault, tripping, 6:34; Maine, Mercier, interference, 9:49; MSU, Heaphy, roughing, 15:49.

Shots on goal: Maine 9-8-7 – 24; MSU 4-8-15 – 27

Goaltenders: Maine, Garth Snow; MSU, Jason Muzzatti

Attendance: 16,172