ORONO – The most important thing the University of Maine men’s basketball team needs heading into postseason play is confidence. The Black Bears satisfied that need in a big way Sunday afternoon at Alfond Arena.

Senior forward Ken Barnes powered his way to a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds to carry Maine to an 81-74 North Atlantic Conference upset victory over top-ranked Drexel of Philadelphia.

Coach Rudy Keeling’s Bears improved to 11-14 overall and 6-9 in the NAC with its fifth win in six games. Maine guaranteed itself no worse than an eighth-place finish in the league, and could wind up as high as fourth.

Drexel, under Bill Herrion, slipped to 19-6 and 12-3. The Dragons have already clinched the NAC regular-season title.

“I think it was a confidence-builder for us. They’re the No. 1 team,” Barnes said. “It will push us up away from last place.”

Maine, which has struggled to keep leads all season, held one Sunday. The Bears never trailed after pushing ahead 4-2 and withstood a couple of comeback rallies by the Dragons.

“The nice thing is we were able to rise to the occasion and prove what we’ve been saying, that we can play with anyone in the league,” Keeling said.

Maine exhibited good clock management and pressure execution down the stretch when Drexel turned up the intensity.

With Drexel down 68-52 and 5:46 left, David Frey, Brian Holden and Cornelius Overby buried 3-pointers to fuel a 15-3 flurry during a span of four minutes.

However, with the shot clock running down, Barnes stuck a 3-pointer to let Maine regroup. Muscule man Malik Rose countered for Drexel with a two-handed jam at the 52-second mark.

Matt Moore helped the Bears put the game away, sinking two foul shots with 44 seconds to play. He added a fast-break dunk with 23 seconds left to give Maine an insurmountable nine-point lead.

“I expected them to make a pretty decent run at the end,” said Casey Arena. “When we were on the court, we just kept telling ourselves `here they come, here they come,’ and a lot of us stepped up.”

Barnes dominated the anticipated low-post duel with Rose, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Dragons despite playing only 25 minutes because of foul trouble.

Arena connected for 18 points and handed out seven assists for Maine, while Terry Hunt contributed 17 points and six rebounds.

Brian Holden was limited to 12 points and five assists, with Frey and Jeff Myers scoring 11 points each. Maine outrebounded Drexel 42-36.

The Bears started strong and built a 30-17 lead in just over 11 minutes. Barnes set the pace for the Bears, pounding in 16 first-half points, including eight from the foul line. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

Maine took a 24-13 lead on the strength of a 13-3 scoring run that lasted four minutes. Hunt kicked it off with a short fall-away jumper from the baseline, then Barnes had a put-back and Hunt a reverse layup.

The Bears, who led 46-34 at the break, were up by 15 points with 6 1/2 minutes gone in the second half, but Drexel came to life. Two Holden free throws opened a 7-0 flurry including a traditional three-point play by Rose and Frey’s foul-line jumper.

Maine answered with a 12-4 run that included five points by foul-plagued Greg Logan.

Maine 81, Drexel 74

Drexel Maine men

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

Rose 6 10 5 6 17 Soucy 0 1 0 1 0

Williams 0 0 2 2 2 Arena 5 13 8 9 18

Redmond 0 0 0 0 0 Moore 1 4 3 6 5

Holden 3 14 5 7 12 Hunt 8 14 0 0 17

Frey 4 8 0 0 11 Thompson 0 0 0 0 0

Myers 4 10 2 2 11 Collins 2 4 0 0 4

Hudgins 3 6 0 0 6 Jones 2 5 1 2 5

Overby 3 10 1 2 9 Barnes 9 14 8 12 27

Stefanidis 0 0 0 0 0 Smith 0 0 0 0 0

Kohles 1 1 0 0 2 Logan 2 3 1 1 5

Yoder 1 2 2 4 4

Totals 25 61 17 23 74 Totals 29 58 21 31 81

Drexel 34 74

Maine 46 81

3-pt. goals: Drexel (7-27): Holden 1-10, Frey 3-6, Myers 1-3, Overby 2-8; Maine (2-10): Soucy 0-1, Arena 0-2, Moore 0-2, Hunt 1-3, Jones 0-1, Barnes 1-1