March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Reserve Richerson lifts UNC-Asheville> Bench player rallies Bulldogs by Bears

EMMITSBURG, Md. – Bryan Richerson scored all five of his points during an 11-3 second-half scoring spurt that helped North Carolina-Asheville secure a 65-57 victory over Maine in the consolation game of the Holiday Inn Bow Tie Classic at Mount St. Mary’s College.

The 3-6 Bulldogs placed four players in double figures while shooting 60 percent from the field in the second half. Maine, now 3-8, also displayed good scoring balance, but came up short.

North Carolina-Wilmington claimed the Bow Tie Classic championships with a 71-64 victory over host Mount St. Mary’s in Saturday’s title contest.

The Bears welcomed the return of senior guard Terry Hunt, who sat out Friday’s first-round contest after being suspended for a game by coach John Giannini. However, after senior backup center Don Long went down with an ankle injury in the first half, Maine’s depth was further reduced.

Maine was forced to use three players for the entire 40 minutes and a fourth for 39 minutes. Even so, the Bears were within four points (56-52) with less than three minutes remaining.

“We were within striking distance the whole game,” Giannini said. “It was a four-point game very late. We had a couple of chances to cut it to two or one, we just needed a little bit more. But our overall effort was good, and our overall play was good outside of our shooting.”

Maine made its final comeback attempt inside the five-minute mark. Dade Faison drained a 3-pointer with 4:36 left to cut UNC-Asheville’s lead to 56-50 and Allen Ledbetter dunked 31 seconds later to make it a four-point game.

However, Mike Matthews answered with a 3-pointer at the 2:33 mark for the Bulldogs, who were able to put the game away from the foul line.,

Robert Stevenson scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the winners, who outrebounded the Bears 41-30. Dirk Lommerse provided 14 points and nine rebounds, Kevin Martin 14 points, and Matthews 12 points.

Hunt led the way for Maine with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. John Gordon scored 13 points, while Ledbetter and Ramone Jones chipped in with 2 and 11 points, respectively, and combined for 15 rebounds.

UNC-Asheville, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half, led 33-27 at halftime. The Bulldogs finally got some breathing room midway through the second half.

Lommerse ignited an 11-3 scoring run with a layup, then Kevin Martin drove in for a hoop to push the Bulldogs’ advantage 45-40 with 10:50 left. Faison responded for Maine with a 3-pointer, but jumpers by Richerson and Stevenson, and Richerson’s 3-pointer, made it 52-43 at the 7:40 mark.

Bulldogs 65, Black Bears 57

Maine men (3-8) UNC-Asheville (3-6)

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Jones 4 11 1 2 11 Martin 4 8 6 8 14

Ledbetter 6 14 0 0 12 Stevenson 6 11 2 3 15

Long 0 0 0 0 0 Lommerse 7 9 0 0 14

Gordon 4 13 2 2 13 Matthews 4 7 1 2 12

Hunt 7 15 0 1 15 Pittman 1 7 0 2 2

Thibodeau 0 0 0 0 0 Richerson 2 2 0 0 5

Faison 2 8 0 0 6 Flowers 0 5 3 5 3

Thomas 0 1 0 0 0 deHaan 0 1 0 0 0

James 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 62 3 5 57 Totals 24 50 12 20 65

Maine 27 57

North Carolina-Asheville 33 65

3-pt. goals: Maine (8-29): Jones 2-6, Gordon 3-11, Hunt 1-5, Faison 2-7; UNC-Asheville (5-15): Martin 0-1, Stevenson 1-1, Matthews 3-5, Pittman 0-4, Richerson 1-1, Flowers 0-3

Attendance: 1,950


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