March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bears defeat ‘Wolves> Dye, Fox lead UMaine to title

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Sophomore guard Huggy Dye scored 18 points and senior forward Nate Fox added 12 points and seven rebounds to lead the University of Maine men’s basketball team to a 67-55 victory over the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the championship game of the Holiday Inn Express Classic Thursday night.

Dye was named the tourney’s most valuable player while Fox joined him on the all-tourney team.

Fox scored eight of the first 10 UMaine points before getting into foul trouble and sitting out much of the first half, but opened the second half by jumpstarting the game’s key run.

Julian Dunkley also contributed 12 points and seven rebounds for the Bears. Point guard Andy Bedard handed out seven assists while Derrick Jackson dished out five more.

The Black Bears came out of the locker room to shoot 71 percent from the floor over the first 14 minutes of the second half and blow the game open. When Colin Haynes, Dunkley, and Bedard drained consecutive 3-pointers two-thirds of the way through the half, the Bears led 58-44 and were rolling.

The Black Bears finished a grueling opening segment of the 1999-2000 season with a 9-3 record. UMaine played 10 of its 12 games away from Alfond Arena. The Seawolves of SUNY-Stony Brook, who are in their first season of Division I competition, dropped to 3-13.

Maine returns to Alfond Arena Sunday for a big America East showdown against Delaware at 1 p.m.

Josh Little scored 12 second-half points for the Seawolves.

In the first half, Dye and Fox combined to score 14 of UMaine’s first 16 points as the Black Bears and Seawolves battled through a deliberate opening 20 minutes virtually even. Dye nailed a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to take a 28-23 advantage into the locker room.

After staking the Bears to their first lead of the game – a 10-8 advantage – by sticking with his own misses and turning the effort into a third-chance hoop, Fox quickly picked up his second foul and exited the game.

In his absence the Bears received some solid minutes from transfer Carvell Ammons, who was making only his second appearance after sitting out the NCAA-mandated year following his transfer from Illinois.

Ammons drew four fouls on the Seawolves and was a force underneath. He snapped a 16-all tie with a conventional 3-point play with three minutes to go before intermission, and after the ‘Wolves answered with four free throws to retake the lead, UMaine turned the tide with the long ball.

Dunkley and Jackson nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to stake the Bears to the largest lead of the half – a 25-20 edge – before Stony Brook answered with a 3-pointer by Francois Oloa.

Dye re-established the five-point edge on the period’s final possession when he converted a Jackson feed into a 3-pointer from the lefthand corner.

Black Bears 67, Seawolves 55

Maine (9-3) SUNY-Stony Brook (3-13)

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

Dunkley 5 8 0 1 12 Porras 2 9 1 2 7

Fox 5 8 2 3 12 McDermott 1 3 0 0 2

Bedard 3 8 0 0 7 Little 4 13 2 2 12

Jackson 2 6 0 0 6 Pratta 2 10 5 6 10

Dye 8 13 0 0 18 Hartman 4 9 1 2 10

Waterman 0 1 0 1 0 Ware 0 1 2 2 2

Thibodeau 0 1 0 0 0 Oloa 2 3 0 0 5

Tibbetts 0 0 0 0 0 Eriksson 1 3 2 2 4

Haynes 2 2 0 0 5 Pena 0 0 0 0 0

Croom 0 1 0 0 0 Balliro 1 4 0 0 3

Ammons 3 5 1 3 7

Totals 28 53 3 8 67 Totals 17 55 13 16 55

Maine 28 67

SUNY-Stony Brook 23 55

3-pt. goals: Maine (8-18): Dunkley 2-4, Bedard 1-3, Jackson 2-4, Dye 2-6, Haynes 1-1; SUNY-Stony Brook (8-30): Porras 2-6, Little 2-10, Pratta 1-7, Hartman 1-3, Oloa 1-1, Balliro 1-3

Attendance: 757


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