March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Fairleigh Dickinson pounds UMaine

ORONO – University of Maine basketball coach John Giannini says the Black Bears offensive scheme, at its most basic, is pretty simple.

Big guys set picks. Lots of ’em. Little guys respond to aggressive defense with back-door cuts. Little guys who end up underneath continue running until they’re on the perimeter again.

And so on. Eventually, someone will get open.

Against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, Giannini’s Bears didn’t often get to the “and so on” portion of their offense.

The Knights from New Jersey brought their brand of physical defense to Alfond Arena on Tuesday night in men’s basketball action and handed the Bears a 93-70 non-conference beating in front of 891 fans.

The Black Bears dropped to 4-6, while the Knights of the Northeast Conference moved to 8-2.

“They pressured us pretty good on the perimeter, and they didn’t allow us to get into our offense,” junior center Allen Ledbetter said.

Ledbetter should know. The fourth-leading rebounder in the nation managed to grab 11 boards against the Knights, but was hounded into 4-for-13 shooting and an eight-point output by the bigger and quicker FDU front line.

His counterpart, senior forward Rahshon Turner, scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds of his own. Turner entered the game ranked in the top 20 in rebounding nationally and was tough down low, nailing nine of his 11 shots.

Giannini said the problem with UMaine’s offense began with FDU’s effort and ended with his own team’s impatience.

“They kept the ball away from our best players, they played very physical and we were just never able to continue running our offense,” Giannini said. “Unfortunately for us, we stopped working to get open when they made it hard on us with good, physical denial.”

Keying a Knights defense that held UMaine guard Fred Meeks under 20 points for the first time all season (18) was speedy senior Elijah Allen.

Allen scored 25 points while out-quicking Maine’s guards drive after drive. He also handed out seven assists. Daryl Todd tossed in 18 points and Jesper Rasmussen notched 13 for the winners.

Marcus Wills scored 27 for the Bears.

The Black Bears put together plenty of short surges against but were never able to take a lead after a 4-2 advantage in the opening two minutes.

The crushing blow came midway through the second half, when the Bears pulled to within seven on a 3-pointer by Wills with 13:41 to go.

Then the Knghts got ugly. Over the next 4:36, they upped the defensive intensity, rattled off a 13-2 run, and ended the game. By the time the Bears answered, FDU had established a 77-59 with 9:06 to go.

FDU coach Tom Green said he felt his team had to hold UMaine below 80 points to win. At the half, Maine trailed 48-40.

“I didn’t like the way the game was going and it seemed thaWills were just getting warmed up,” Green said. “If anybody else on the team stepped up, we could have ben in trouble.”

Instead, it was the Knights who stepped up defensively.

In the first half, the Black Bears were hampered by early foul trouble that sent two starters to the bench in the first 6:37. Meeks, the nation’s sixth-leading scorer entering the game, was first. He picked up his second foul after just 4:36 and sat down before launching a shot.

But when he returned, the explosive guard wasted no time getting on the board, nailing three straight shots – a 21-foot 3-pointer, a 25-foot 3-pointer, and a circus turnaround jumper from 17 feet – on three straight Maine possessions.

His final hoop of a flurry that lasted just more than a minute pulled the Bears within three at 30-27 with 7:35 to go in the first.

The Knights stiffened, scoring nine straight points over the next 2:30 to push the lead back to 12.

Wills led the Bears with 15 points before intermission, while Allen had 14 for the Knights.

NOTES: The newest Black Bear, 6-foot-8 junior college transfer Linnell Marshall, will have to wait awhile longer before playing for UMaine. Marshal, who averaged 16 points and eight rebounds a game for Champlain College last year, broke a finger during practice on Monday and may miss three to six weeks… The Knights provided the first of many visits by former UMaine coaches this season, as FDU assistant Fred Hill is a former Black Bear staffer. Hill coached under Rudy Keeling in the early 90s. Keeling (Northeastern) and Mike Jaskulski (Towson) will also visit Alfond Arena this season.

Knights 93, Black Bears 72

Fairleigh Dickinson (8-2) Maine men (4-6)

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

Todd 6 11 4 6 18 Haynes 2 8 3 5 7

Turner 9 11 5 8 23 Meeks 7 13 1 2 18

Walker 1 5 0 3 2 Ledbetter 4 13 0 4 8

Allen 9 15 5 5 25 Wills 9 19 4 6 27

Slider 3 7 0 0 8 Faison 2 10 0 0 5

Rasmussen 5 7 0 0 13 Thibodeau 0 1 0 0 0

Gorrell 0 0 0 0 0 Tibbetts 1 1 0 0 3

Dasher 0 0 0 0 0 Fein 1 2 0 1 2

King 0 2 0 0 0 Thompson 1 1 0 1 2

Williams 1 1 0 0 2

Sinding 1 1 0 0 2

Totals 35 60 14 22 93 Totals 27 68 8 19 72

Fairleigh Dickinson 48 93

Maine 40 72

3-pt. goals: Fairleigh Dickinson (9-22): Todd 2-6, Walker 0-2, Allen 2-4, Slider 2-5, Rasmussen 3-5; Maine (10-31): Haynes 0-3, Meeks 3-9, Wills 5-9, Faison 1-8, Thibodeau 0-1, Tibbetts 1-1


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