PORTLAND – This was the kind of game the University of Maine men’s basketball team had a history of losing.

Playing a non-conference opponent with a winning record, in the fourth game of the season (Maine was on an 0-8 skid in fourth games), in front of a token crowd at the Cumberland County Civic Center where the Black Bears are 3-10 lifetime, the “home” team appeared teed up for an “L.”

Not this time.

In a who’s-going-to-flinch-last defensive special, Maine made Fairfield flinch when it mattered most, squeezing out a 14-6 run over the final four minutes to wrest a 63-58 win from the Stags in front of 1,793 refugees from the Maine Mall.

Junior center Francois Bouchard’s 17 points helped Maine improve to 3-1, the program’s best start under fifth-year head coach Rudy Keeling. In fact, it’s the program’s best start in nine years. The Bears now have a week off for finals before resuming the schedule Dec. 21 at Buffalo.

Fairfield slipped to 4-1.

“I really thought our guys didn’t break,” is how Keeling summarized 40 minutes of defense that featured the winning team shooting 39 percent from the floor, the losing team 33 percent, and the two teams trooping to the foul line for 53 free throws. “We told them before the game started it was going to be a battle of wills. They got after it and stayed after it and stayed after it.”

It was this Maine tenacity, specifically as shown by freshman forward Chris Collins and freshman guard Casey Arena, that caused Fairfield’s fatal flinch in the closing minutes.

With the Bears trailing 51-49 with four minutes to play following a 9-2 run by the Stags, the 6-foot-4 Collins rebounded an Arena miss on the offensive glass and flipped in the putback to tie the game.

“That was significant, that we didn’t just pack it in,” said Keeling. “We made a play right after they put us down.”

Next, Arena rebounded a missed 3-point shot by Fairfield’s Tim Schwartz. As the Bears ran their usually ineffective halfcourt offense, Collins, in the high post, fed the 6-foot Arena underneath. Arena, surrounded by tall Fairfield folks like the 6-8 Schwartz and 6-9 Peter Guarasci, somehow snuck in a reverse lefty layup to give the Bears a 53-51 lead with 3:13 to play.

The key play ensued, Arena swiping the ball from Derrick Dunlap in the frontcourt and beating the pack down the floor for a layup to put Maine up 55-51 with 2:46 left.

“I just played defense,” shrugged Arena, who finished with 12 points while also helping hold Stags leading scorer Kevin George to seven points on 3-for-14 shooting. “I just happened to get a hand on it. I didn’t expect it, but it’s a great feeling when you’re going down the court with a stolen ball and you make two.”

When tight defense played by Collins forced an airball from Craig Martin on Fairfield’s following possession (with Ed Jones of Maine rebounding), the Stags were in trouble. When Maine guard Deonte Hursey drew a foul and hit two free throws to make it 57-51 with two minutes left, the Stags succumbed.

“I thought tonight the tougher team won the game and should be congratulated,” said Fairfield Coach Paul Cormier, whose team was outrebounded 49-39 and outmuscled inside by Bouchard (5-of-6 from the floor).

Kevin Terrell added 10 points for Maine, which led 27-24 at the half.

Black Bears 63, Stags 58

Maine Fairfield

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

Terrell 7 3 6 3 11 George 14 3 0 0 7

Hursey 10 2 6 5 9 Jones 2 0 2 1 1

Marseille 5 2 0 0 4 Sytulek 11 6 5 4 18

Bouchard 6 5 7 7 17 Henderson 14 7 9 3 17

Collins 4 1 2 1 3 Schwartz 6 2 2 1 5

Arena 10 5 2 2 12 Dunlap 3 0 2 2 2

Jones 6 1 4 3 5 Guarasci 3 0 2 2 2

Hillman 3 1 2 0 2 Gattis 0 0 0 0 0

Kearson 0 0 0 0 0 Seymour 0 0 0 0 0

Martin 8 2 2 1 6

Totals 51 20 29 21 63 Totals 61 20 24 14 58

Maine 27 63

Fairfield 24 58

3-pt. goals: Maine (2-5), Terrell 2-4, Arena 0-1; Fairfield (4-17), Sytulek 2-4, Martin 1-5, George 1-5, Schwartz 0-2, Jones 0-1