Brief break may help Maine men

Coach John Giannini and the University of Maine men’s basketball team have reached a brief break in what to date has been a grueling early-season schedule.

The Black Bears took a day off Monday in the wake of Sunday’s 71-57 loss to America East defending champ Drexel at Alfond Arena in Orono. UMaine’s next task is to get rested and healed to prepare for Friday night’s non-conference game at Youngstown State in Ohio.

The Black Bears have played eight games in 15 days dating back to their Nov. 23 opener against the University of Southern Maine. In that span, UMaine has not had more than two days between games, which means precious little time for preparation, given the mandatory day off required each week by the NCAA.

Maine has struggled to a 2-6 record as it lost five straight games after beating Southern Maine, including a loss to Husson College, an NAIA team. It snapped its losing streak by beating Hofstra on Friday.

“To be quite honest, it’s a little bit much for where we’re at right now,” Giannini said, “but you know what? It’s probably a little bit much for 120 out of 280 teams in the country to play eight games in two weeks against this kind of schedule.”

Senior forward Terry Hunt agreed that the Bears continue to show signs of improvement, which has been somewhat overshadowed by the hectic schedule.

“I think that we’re finally getting a grasp on what we really need to do as a team, and it’s been really tough because of our schedule,” Hunt said.

UMaine will finally be able catch up on its rest after the Youngstown State game as the Bears have a full 14 days off without a game until their Dec. 27 appearance against North Carolina-Wilmington at the Holiday Inn Bow Tie Classic in Emmitsburg, Md.

UMaine sophomore guard John Gordon had a string of 22 consecutive free throws snapped during Sunday’s contest against Drexel.

Gordon, who made his last four attempts of 1995-96, opened this season by converting on his first 18 tries. His first make Sunday came when he was unexpectedly substituted for teammate Ramone Jones, who was forced to the bench because of a bloody elbow with 2:33 left in the first half.

However, Gordon missed the back end of a two-shot situation at 17:41 of the second half. His streak was the longest since former Black Bear Francois Bouchard sank 31 straight during the 1993-94 season.

Bouchard came within one of the school-record 32 consecutive free throws made by Skip Chappelle in 1960-61, but had his run halted during the 1994 North Atlantic Conference title game at Drexel.

The UMaine women’s basketball team was involved in an unusually low-scoring affair Saturday afternoon at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where the Bears won 55-45.

The 55 points were the fewest scored by a UMaine team in a winning cause since a 53-51 win over Delaware in 1994. Junior guard Cindy Blodgett tossed in 17 points Saturday, her lowest point total in an America East game since she scored 16 points against Hartford on Feb. 16, 1995.

Blodgett, who is averaging 23.2 points per game through six contests, shares the league lead along with Sheila Danker of New Hampshire. Blodgett, who led the nation in scoring last season, still is well ahead of the 16.8 ppg she was averaging through six games a year ago.

UMaine’s defensive effort against the Dragons was more common, since the Bears limited opponents to 49 points or less five times last season, including a season-low 41 in a 90-41 blowout of Hartford.

Swedish defenseman Robert Ek, who left the University of Maine in October because he tired of waiting for the NCAA Eligibility Clearinghouse to give him permission to play, has finally been cleared according to outgoing interim head coach Greg Cronin.

“He will be returning as soon as he can,” said Cronin. “He will obviously improve our depth.”

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Ek was faced with an Oct. 23 deadline for regaining his tuition money and when he hadn’t received clearinghouse approval, he returned to his native Sweden.

Ek could return for the second semester and be eligible to play or he could wait until next fall.

Mike Mendonca has been named the coach of the women’s cross country team at the University of Maine-Presque Isle.

Mendonca, a youth and adult program specialist for the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department, has served as an assistant coach for the Owls for the last three years. Mendonca will replace Chris Smith who, after coaching the UMPI men and women for 10 seasons, will concentrate all of his efforts to the men.

Mendonca is a veteran runner who in October participated in the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii. The Cross Lake resident earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Maine-Fort Kent.