PORTLAND – It’s still early, and they’ve yet to play a game in the North Atlantic Conference. But the University of Maine men believe they took a big step toward building a better basketball season Saturday by pulling out a 71-68 victory over Eastern Illinois University in the Bath Iron Works Classic.

“It’s a big win because we achieved a goal we had set to get to .500,” said 6-foot-10, 267-pound Maine center Curtis Robertson, who emerged as the biggest factor in the contest, scoring a career-high 20 points to the delight of the 3,144 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center. “Whenever you reach a goal it builds your confidence.”

Thanks to Robertson’s inside dominance and a gritty 11-point, 3-assist, 4-steal performance by junior guard Marty Higgins, who played 35 minutes despite suffering from bronchitis, Maine’s confidence is at its highest level since the 1983-84 season. That’s the last time the Black Bears got off to better than this year’s 4-4 start and it’s also the last time Maine had a winning season.

“We’d really like to go into league play with a winning record,” said third-year UM head coach Rudy Keeling, outlining Maine’s next goal heading into Sunday’s game at Delaware, which is followed by non-league contests with Robert Morris and Southwest Texas. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility we can win two of three, or even all three, and go into the conference with a winning record.”

Keeling’s optimism was based on once again watching his Dirty Dozen swarm all over the opposition amid Maine’s man-to-man and matchup zone defenses. Eastern Illinois (3-3) reacted by shooting 40 percent from the floor, making it the fifth straight Maine opponent, including Big East member Connecticut, to fail to reach 50 percent floor accuracy against the Bears.

Maine also outrebounded the Panthers 44-29, including 17-9 on the offensive glass, behind 6-8 redshirt freshman Francois Bouchard (10 points, 8 rebounds), Robertson (5 rebounds), and freshman forward Ken Barnes (8 points, 5 rebounds).

The Bears’ hustle, in the form of their defense and rebounding, made up for a sub-par offensive performance. Take Robertson’s 9-for-11 shooting from the paint away, and the other 11 Bears hit only 18 of 45 (40 percent) against EIU’s mixture of 1-3-1, and 2-3 zones, coupled with man-to-man pressure.

The game remained close throughout, with neither team leading by more than 6 points. The Panthers led 39-36 at the half thanks to the outside shooting of Gerald Jones (16 points) and Dave Olson (14).

The difference came down to Maine’s execution in crunch time.

A Robertson power layup off a feed by freshman guard Kevin Terrell snapped a 64-64 tie and gave Maine the lead for good with 2:48 remaining.

A steal in the backcourt by Higgins translated into a 12-foot jumper in the lane by Maine’s Bouchard to up Maine’s edge to 68-64 at the 1:55 mark.

After Rod McKinnis of EIU put back a miss by Barry Johnson to cut it to 68-66, Maine freshman Deonte Hursey hit one of two from the line to make it a three-point game with 34 seconds remaining.

Derek Kelley countered with a layup at :19 to draw the Panthers within a point, and Hursey turned the ball over with 10 seconds left, giving EIU a chance to win. But Higgins iced the verdict by rebounding Johnson’s missed three-pointer, drawing a foul, and hitting two free throws.

Black Bears 71, Panthers 68

Maine men Eastern Illinois

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

Hursey 1 1 4 2 4 Jones 14 6 3 2 16

Higgins 5 3 3 3 11 Rowe 10 3 11 7 13

Hodge 11 2 2 2 6 Olson 7 5 2 1 14

Bouchard 8 4 2 2 10 Johnson 13 5 2 2 12

Robertson 11 9 4 2 20 Kelley 3 2 2 0 4

Terrell 7 2 2 2 6 West 7 1 2 2 4

Barnes 8 3 2 2 8 McKinnis 3 2 0 0 4

Hillman 1 1 1 0 2 Leib 1 0 2 1 1

Dennis 3 2 0 0 4 Martin 1 0 0 0 0

Jones 1 0 0 0 0 Andrews 0 0 0 0 0

Williamson 0 0 0 0 0 Robertson 0 0 0 0 0

McClaire 0 0 0 0 0 Nicholson 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 56 27 20 15 71 Totals 59 24 24 15 68

Eastern Illinois 39 68

Maine 36 71

3-pt. goals: Maine (2-9) – Higgins 2-2, Hodge 0-6, Terrell 0-1; Eastern Illinois (5-16) – Olson 3-4, Jones 2-4, Johnson 0-4, West 0-2, Kelley 0-1, Rowe 0-1