College Report

Give the University of New Hampshire men’s basketball team credit. They’ve got a lot of guts. Only 1 win and 15 losses heading into Tuesday night’s game at Yale. But a lot of guts.

The Wildcats, who own the nation’s longest Division I homecourt losing streak at 31, issued a statement Tuesday “guaranteeing” the streak will be broken Feb. 2 when UNH hosts none other than the University of Maine.

“The Wildcats have designated the Feb. 2 game against Maine as `Guaranteed Win Day,”‘ is how the press release read that arrived by fax.

The gimmick is, if UNH doesn’t win, it will dish out “prizes” and “special discounts” from the UNH Athletic Department and local merchants to EVERY fan in attendance at 3,500-seat Lundholm Gym.

Second-year UNH head coach Jim Boylan could not be reached for comment Tuesday on this fascinating exercise in public relations, which emerges as quite a gamble considering the Wildcats were soundly thrashed by Maine 85-64 on Jan. 5 in Bangor. Boylan’s team was preparing to play the Bulldogs in New Haven, Conn.

Maine Coach Rudy Keeling, reached prior to Tuesday’s game at St. Bonaventure, reacted with a figurative shrug.

“I feel bad for them that it (the losing streak) has become such a big deal,” Keeling said. “It’s something that preys on their mind. Obviously, we don’t want to be the team that loses to them to break it. I think UNH sees us as their biggest rival. I’m not sure our team feels that way.”

Keeling, whose team carried a 7-10 record (2-1 in the North Atlantic Confernce) into the St. Bonaventure game, said he was not upset UNH chose his team to gamble on breaking the streak.

“I think they figure it’s going to end sometime and, looking at the schedule, it would be us. I don’t know that I wouldn’t come up with the same thing if I was in their situation.

“What does he have to lose?” Keeling summed up.

The Maine coach did say the ploy would serve as incentive for his team.

“I haven’t thought about New Hampshire because they’re still three games away. But I think we won’t have any trouble getting up for them,” Keeling said.

Francois Bouchard was named NAC Rookie of the Week after scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a win over Fairfield.

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The Husson College men’s hoop team has been particularly civic-minded lately.

First, the Braves conducted their annual clinic for youngsters at the Leroy Smith School in Winterport this past Saturday.

“We do a lot of clinics in area schools,” said head coach Bruce MacGregor, who will serve as honorary host of the upcoming United Cerebral Palsy telethon to be aired by WVII TV. “They provide the opportunity for us to do more than teach basic basketball skills. The clinics are a comfortable time for young kids to talk to our students about issues like education, drugs, and the future.”

Husson also recently visited the UCP learning center in Bangor and took the children sledding.

The Braves topped it off by having American Flags added to their game jerseys in honor of the troops in the Persian Gulf. Then they went out and beat the University of Southern Maine 79-78 Monday night.