March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Flying Dutchmen soar over Bears

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Hofstra University ended Maine’s five-game unbeaten streak in North Atlantic Conference play Thursday night, posting a 64-51 victory over the Black Bears at the Physical Fitness Center.

Maine, now 7-5 overall, started slowly on offense and never led in the contest. The Flying Dutchmen improved to 4-6, earning their first NAC victory in four tries.

Coach Rudy Keeling’s Black Bears came out strong in the second half, drawing even at 34-34 with a string of 10 unanswered points, capped by a John Gordon 3-pointer with 16:08 left.

However, Hofstra answered with an 8-0 run in the next two minutes and Maine could not recover.

“[The players] are devastated, but we weren’t going to go through the league unbeaten,” Keeling said. “We played very good defense. We just couldn’t get anything going.”

Maine held Hofstra scoring catalysts Lawrence Thomas and Seth Meyers, both transfers from Nevada-Las Vegas, to nine points each. But Jamil Greene responded with 13 points and nine rebounds, and James Parisi added 10 points and six boards with physical inside play.

Darius Burton led the way for Hofstra with 14 points, five assists and four steals.

Gordon paced Maine with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Casey Arena scored 11, but made only four of 14 shots from the field. He added three steals.

Ramone Jones chipped in with eight points for the Bears, who suffered through a 3-for-12 effort from the foul line while Hofstra made 17 of 24 free throws.

The Bears were thin at guard as senior Matt Moore, who tossed in a season-high 21 points in Tuesday’s 77-48 victory over Vermont, did not play because of a thigh injury suffered Wednesday in practice.

Keeling said Maine was out of sync without Moore, who is doubtful for Saturday’s game against defending NAC champion Drexel in Philadelphia.

“I think [the injury] is a big factor because he’s a big blend guy,” Keeling said. “We couldn’t get any flow. We struggled in our offense.”

The Bears fought back within four with 10:34 to play on layups by Arena and Allen Ledbetter, but missed two shots that could have cut the deficit to two.

The Dutchmen answered with Burton’s runner from the paint and a Thomas 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine.

Maine hung close, but Rahsaan Thompson and Chris Collins combined to miss four consecutive free throws with Hofstra leading 58-49. The hosts iced it from the foul line.

Flying Dutchmen 64, Bears 51

Maine (7-5) Hofstra (4-6)

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

Jones 4 11 0 0 8 Meyers 4 12 0 0 9

Ledbetter 1 6 0 0 2 Parisi 3 6 4 4 10

Logan 3 6 1 2 7 Jackson 3 6 0 1 6

Arena 4 14 2 4 11 Burton 4 8 6 10 14

Collins 2 7 0 4 4 Thomas 3 12 2 4 9

Gordon 6 14 0 0 17 Parsons 0 0 0 0 0

Thompson 1 3 0 2 2 Davis 1 3 0 0 3

Thomas 0 1 0 0 0 Beckett 0 1 0 0 0

Long 0 0 0 0 0 Greene 4 7 5 5 13

Totals 21 62 3 12 51 Totals 22 55 17 24 64

Maine 24 51

Hofstra 32 64

3-pt. goals: Maine (6-21): Jones 0-4, Arena 1-6, Collins 0-1, Gordon 5-10; Hofstra (3-6): Meyers 1-2, Thomas 1-3, Davis 1-1


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