Black Bears in Florida to open hoop season

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They are three teams you may never have heard of – Liberty University, Southeast Louisiana, and Central Florida.

Which is exactly the way University of Maine men’s basketball coach Rudy Keeling likes it, considering his team will feature six true freshmen and only one senior when the Black Bears open their regular season Friday and Saturday at the Central Florida Classic in Orlando.

“I think this tournament is wide open and that we have a realistic chance to win it,” said Keeling, whose Bears will face Liberty of Lynchburg, Va., in Friday’s 4 p.m. opener at the UCF Gym. “With the number of young guys we have, this is a very good tournament for us, especially to begin the season.”

Central Florida will take on Southeast Louisiana in Friday’s 8 p.m. matchup. The winners will meet for the title Saturday at 8 p.m., while the losers get to play a 4 p.m. consolation game.

With upcoming dates in December against defending Big East Champion UConn and another NCAA tournament team in Robert Morris, Keeling isn’t about to apologize for the no-name openers (all three are, by the way, Division I teams). The third-year coach of the Bears is more concerned with how his mixture of kids and veterans mix when it counts.

Keeling expects to start a unit of junior guards Derrick Hodge and Marty Higgins, both of whom started last year, while going with three inexperienced players up front in true freshman forwad Tim Dennis, redshirt freshman forward Francois Bouchard, and sophomore center Dan Hillman.

Senior center and team captain Curtis Robertson, freshman forward Kenny Barnes, and junior forward Shelton Kerry will be the first three players off the bench, or could plug into the lineup at the last minute. They’ll be followed quickly by true freshmen guards Kevin Terrell and Deonte Hursey.

Keeling’s biggest concern heading into the tournament?

Bouchard. The 6-8 banger from Old Orchard Beach has been inconsisent in preseason after missing all but four games last year with a stress fracture. He also took a bad fall in practice last week, bruising his neck and head.

“He’s not playing well right now and he’s got to play well for us to be as good as we can be,” said Keeling. “It’s a situation where he’s had nagging injuries and he’s been off for a year. He’s going to be slow coming around.”

As for Liberty, Keeling said the Flames are physically impressive. With two freshmen and two sophomores pencilled to start, they also look very familiar.

“They’ve got some young guys in the lineup. They’ll be a lot like us. Whoever comes together first will have a shot at winning the tournament,” Keeling said.

Liberty (a Baptist university founded by Jerry Falwell) is coming off an 11-17 record under head coach Jerry Meyer last year. The Flames boast a potentially dominant big man in 6-10 sophomore Julius Nwosu of Nigeria. They’ll also start a pair of talented freshmen guards in Matthew Hildebrand and Brett Anthony.

Mike Coleman, a 6-7 inside specialist, is an established performer as a junior. He’ll team with 6-7 freshman Darrius Hunter. Chris Toomer, a 6-1 freshman guard, is considered a dangerous three-point shooter.

In fact, most of the Flames like to shoot the three. They fired up 25 in a recent exhibition loss to an AAU team.

Southeast Louisiana is the darkhorse of the tournament. The Lions did not have a team last year, the program put on hiatus because of budget problems at the school. Six members of the 1988-89 team return from the group that went 3-24 two years ago.

Central Florida is also young. Second-year head coach Joe Dean has a solid player to build around in 6-9 forward Ken Leeks, who averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds last year. The Running Knights want to live up to their nickname and force the tempo.

Men’s College Basketball

Central Florida Classic MAINE vs. LIBERTY

Time, site: 4 p.m., UCF Gymnasium, Orlando, Fla.

Records: Season opener for both, Maine 11-17, Liberty 11-17 last year

Key players: Maine – F Francois Bouchard, 6-8 R-Fr.; C Dan Hillman, 6-8 Soph.; F Tim Dennis, 6-7 Fr.; G Marty Higgins, 5-11 Jr.; G Derrick Hodge, 6-3 Jr.; C Curtis Robertson, 6-10 Sr.; Liberty – F Julius Nwosu, 6-10 Soph.; C Mike Coleman, 6-7 Jr.; F B.J. Burton, 6-4 Soph.; G Brett Anthony, 6-2 Fr.; G Matthew Hildebrand, 6-2 Fr.

Outlook: Both teams are young and play similar styles, preferring man-to-man pressure defense and motion offense. Key matchup could be Robertson-Hillman on Nwosu of Liberty, an extremely mobile big man imported from Nigeria.

CENTRAL FLORIDA vs. SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA

Time, site: 8 p.m., UCF Gymnasium, Orlando, Fla.

Records: Season opener for both, UCF 7-21 last year, SE Louisiana, did not have a program last year because of fiscal difficulty

Key players: Central Florida – G Sinua Phillips, 5-10 Fr.; G Anthony Haynes, 6-1 Sr.; F Denny Hinson, 6-4 Fr.; F Ross Breunig, 6-10 Sr.; C Ken Leeks, 6-9 Jr. Southeast Louisiana – G Duane Donald, 5-11 Sr.; G Dennis Roussel, 6-4 Sr.; Henry Washington, 6-4 Soph.; Michael Wolf, 6-4 Jr.; C Bernard Sylve, 6-7 Soph.; C Darryl Jones, 6-9 Jr.

Outlook: Two teams with no history in search of identities, edge goes to Central Florida which has homecourt advantage. Both teams want to push the ball up the floor. Both like to take the 3-pointer.

Schedule: Friday’s winners will play in title game Saturday at 8 p.m., losers will meet in consolation at 4 p.m.