Arena powers Maine to a sweep in Boston

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BOSTON – Casey Arena scored 15 first-half points as the University of Maine men’s basketball team jumped to a big lead and then held off Northeastern University 79-67 at Matthews Arena here Saturday.

Arena, a 6-foot sophomore point guard, finished with 23 points to lead Maine. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and had four assists and three steals.

Ken Barnes added 18 points to the winning effort while Deonte Hursey and Terry Hunt chipped in with 10 points each.

Anthony Brown led Northeastern with 22.

The victory, on the heels of Maine’s 83-81 overtime win at Boston University last Thursday, gave the Black Bears a weekend sweep of the North Atlantic Conference’s Boston-based teams. It was the second time since the 1978-79 season that the Bears (10-7; 4-2 in the NAC) swept two games during a Boston road trip.

Northeastern is 4-13 and 1-5.

“This was a monumental task, to beat BU and Northeastern in Boston,” said Maine coach Rudy Keeling. “I think we’re playing pretty well without our best player. It says a lot about them pulling together and focusing. The guys are playing pretty well.”

Maine had built a 43-27 lead at halftime and increased it to 51-31 with 16:32 left in the game.

A trio of Damon Singletary 3-pointers for Northeastern, during a 26-16 run in the second half, helped cut the Maine edge to 65-57 with 5:33 remaining.

But the 8-point deficit was the closest Northeastern got as Arena and Barnes carried Maine to its second straight league victory.

It was Northeastern’s fifth straight conference loss.

“It was getting a little scary there,” said Arena. “Kenny made a couple of big shots during that stretch. But it’s not just one guy. Everybody has been playing well and playing heady basketball.”

“I thought Ed Jones and Kenny Barnes held us together,” said Keeling. “We talked about this being a game of runs. We had made ours and then we sustained their’s.”

A conventional 3-point play by Arena, an offensive rebound put-back by Deonte Hursey, a Chris Collins free throw, and an 8-footer from the baseline staked Maine to an 8-0 lead early in the first half.

After NU’s Brown scored back-to-back layups, a 5-0 Maine spurt put the Bears ahead 13-4.

Northeastern cut the lead to 16-10, but a 12-3 Maine run, capped by five straight points by Hunt, made it 28-13 with 7:33 left in the first half.

Maine’s pressure defense caused 25 turnovers and forced the Huskies to shoot (22-for-58) for the game.

Black Bears 79, Huskies 67

Maine men Northeastern

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

Hursey 8 4 2 2 10 Abudllah 9 4 0 0 10

Arena 18 8 10 6 23 Brown 16 8 7 6 22

Collins 3 2 5 3 7 Singletary 8 3 0 0 9

Barnes 14 8 4 2 18 Djossou 9 2 7 5 9

E.Jones 4 2 0 0 4 Harmon 3 1 2 1 3

Hunt 7 2 8 6 10 Powell 0 0 0 0 0

Smith 0 0 0 0 0 Carey 7 1 4 4 7

R.Jones 3 1 6 3 5 Fraser 0 0 0 0 0

Schmidt 2 1 0 0 2 Barney 3 2 0 0 4

Keeling 0 0 0 0 0 Murphy 3 1 0 0 3

Totals 59 28 35 22 79 Totals 58 22 20 16 67

Maine 43 79

Northeastern 27 67

3-pt. goals: Maine (1-for-6): Arena 1-2, Hunt 0-2, R. Jones 0-1, Hursey 0-1; Northeastern (7-for-14): Singletary 3-5, Abdullah 2-3, Carey 1-4, Murphy 1-2.