Black Bears hold off Coppin

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BALTIMORE, Md. – Kevin Terrell hit a 3-point shot from the top of the key with 3:42 to play to give the University of Maine men’s basketball team a 61-59 lead and the Black Bears held on down the stretch to post a 69-66 win over Coppin State Tuesday night at the Coppin Center.

The win improved Maine’s record to 3-2 heading into Saturday’s game at 12th-ranked Connecticut. The Black Bears’ victory also snapped a 24-game winning streak by Coppin on its home court.

Coppin State slipped to 1-1.

After hitting his 3-pointer, Terrell stole the ball and fed Ed Jones for a fast-break dunk that gave Maine a four-point lead.

Maine maintained a 2- to 4-point lead until James Mazyck drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to pull Coppin within one with 15 seconds left (67-66).

Working against full-court pressure, Deonte Hursey (10 points) of Maine passed to Francois Bouchard, who fed Fritz Marseille for a slam dunk to up Maine’s lead to 69-66 with five seconds left.

Coppin’s Mazyck missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We thought we had to win against Coppin. We really wanted to come back with a winning record,” said Maine head coach Rudy Keeling, whose club traveled straight to Baltimore after a 1-2 performance in the San Juan Shootout in San Juan, Puerto Rico, over the weekend.

“We rose to the occasion and because of that, the trip was a success,” said Keeling.

Hursey, a 6-foot sophomore guard, emerged as the key player for Maine in the second half. He hit six of six free throws while helping the Bears erase as much as an eight-point deficit.

Hursey’s biggest basket came with 1:03 remaining, when he drove the lane for a layup that gave Maine a 67-63 edge.

“Deonte played very well in the second half,” said Keeling. “To his credit, he played very good offense.”

Marty Higgins led Maine with 14 points. Marseille added 13, with Terrell and Jones hitting for nine apiece. Bouchard finished with eight points.

Coppin was led by Saunders’ 19-point effort. Mazyck added 15, including 10 in the second half.

Maine trailed 35-29 at the half after leading by as many as eight in the first 10 minutes of the game.

“We started off playing well and we caught them unaware,” said Keeling. “They got after us in the second half of the first half. We lost our composure. The second half we came out and really played.”

Keeling said he told his players at halftime to “keep your poise” and to work on “opening up the floor.” The Bears hurt the Eagles with backdoor layups in the second half.

Keeling credited the inspired defensive effort turned in by the 6-foot-6 Jones as being critical to the win.

“I thought Ed Jones was the difference, with his rebounding, steals, and good defense,” said the Maine coach. Maine outrebounded Coppin 37-32.

Black Bears 69, Eagles 66

Maine Coppin State

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

Terrell 8 3 3 2 9 Carmichael 7 1 2 2 4

Higgins 8 5 5 3 14 Johnson 7 3 0 0 6

Bouchard 7 4 0 0 8 Mazyck 9 5 6 3 15

Marseille 8 4 6 5 13 Woods 9 2 2 2 6

Jones 4 3 4 3 9 Saunders 11 5 8 7 19

Barnes 7 3 0 0 6 Howard 0 0 0 0 0

Hursey 6 1 9 8 10 Hammond 5 4 1 1 9

Kearson 0 0 0 0 0 Dickerson 7 3 2 1 7

Goodman 3 0 0 0 0

Kenyatta 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 48 23 27 21 69 Totals 58 23 21 16 66

Maine 29 69

Coppin State 35 66

3-pt. goals: Maine (2-7), Terrell 1-3, Higgins 1-4; Coppin State (4-15), Saunders 2-4, Mazyck 2-4, Carmichael 0-5, Dickerson 0-1, Goodman 0-1