Bedard shrugs off cracked rib, Black Bears stop Seasiders

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LAIE, Hawaii – Andy Bedard jumped out of street clothes and back into action Thursday, shrugging off a cracked rib while helping the University of Maine men’s basketball team hold off BYU-Hawaii 77-66 for fifth place in the Pearl Harbor Invitational.

Bedard, who suffered the injury Tuesday in the Black Bears’ game against No. 18 UCLA, made his shots after the Seasiders climbed back from a double-digit deficit to within six points in the second half.

“[BYU-Hawaii] is a tough team to beat, especially on their home court,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “I thought we had the potential to be fatigued and we had some hurt people, but all in all, I was very proud of our effort.”

Maine, which was scheduled to board the plane Thursday evening for its return trip, posted a 2-1 record in the tournament. The Bears are 7-3 through 10 games for the second straight season.

“I’m always very realistic when we look at our schedule, but I was really attracted to this tournament because we had a good chance to go 2-1,” Giannini said. “We accomplished that despite having people with injuries.”

Maine had built up a 16-point lead in the second half, but BYU-Hawaii, the Division II tournament host, rallied behind the work of David Evans and Brian Skinner to move to within six.

With Maine clinging to a 59-53 lead, Bedard nailed a 3-pointer, then fed Julian Dunkley for a dunk that pushed the advantage to 11 points with 7:16 to play.

Bedard finished with 13 points and seven assists, six of which came during the first half.

“Andy Bedard gave us an extremely gutsy performance,” Giannini said. “He played two days after cracking his rib. He could barely breathe [Wednesday].”

In the meantime, the Bears played tenacious defense, limiting the Seasiders to only an Evans foul shot during a span of 4 1/2 minutes. By the time BYUH got on the board again, the Bears led by 16 with 3:27 to play.

“We played better defense than we have been,” Giannini said. “I think as a group we played well. We got the lead pretty early and maintained it all the way through.”

Huggy Dye scored a team-high 17 points for Maine, which shot 50 percent from the floor. Nate Fox contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds while Dunkley provided 16 points and 11 rebounds.

“Julian Dunkley was in foul trouble early, then had big plays late in the game to help us pull away,” Giannini said. “He was huge down the stretch.”

Evans finished with 28 points and nine rebounds. Skinner added 11 points.

The Bears put together a 16-6 first-half run that helped them manufacture a 16-point advantage.

Trailing 12-10, Bedard fed Fox for a layup to open the spurt. Thibodeau followed with a conventional three-point play, before Evans made a layup for the Seasiders.

Fox countered for Maine, sandwiching a pair of close-range baskets around a hoop by BYU-Hawaii’s Walter Gates to make it 21-14 with 10:26 left in the half. The Bears kept the pressure on as Dunkley drained a 3-pointer and Derrick Jackson answered a jumper by the hosts’ Isaac Turley, extending the lead to 26-17 at the 8:56 mark.

Maine eventually led by 37-21, but BYU-Hawaii scored the last five points of the half to get within 11 at intermission.

Black Bears 77, Seasiders 66

Maine (7-3) BYU-Hawaii (7-4)

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

Bedard 4 10 2 2 13 Barton 0 1 0 0 0

Dunkley 6 11 2 2 16 Joyce 1 8 2 2 4

Fox 6 10 4 8 16 Evans 11 20 5 6 28

Jackson 3 7 0 0 7 Isom 3 8 1 2 7

Dye 6 14 4 4 17 Turley 1 3 0 0 2

Waterman 0 0 0 0 0 Villa 0 0 1 2 1

Thibodeau 1 1 1 1 3 Fripp 0 0 0 0 0

Tibbetts 0 0 0 0 0 Lynn 0 3 0 0 0

Haynes 2 3 1 2 5 Daley 1 2 1 1 3

Croom 0 0 0 0 0 Skinner 5 9 0 0 11

Stilson 0 3 0 0 0

Eyre 0 0 1 1 1

Higby 0 0 2 2 2

Gates 2 3 2 5 6

Totals 28 56 14 19 77 Totals 24 60 15 21 65

Maine 37 77

BYU-Hawaii 26 66

3-pt. goals: Maine (7-20): Bedard 3-4, Dunkley 2-4, Jackson 1-5, Dye 1-6, Haynes 0-1; BYUH (2-20): Joyce 0-5, Evans 1-4, Isom 0-2, Turley 0-2, Lynn 0-2, Daley 0-1, Skinner 1-2, Stilson 0-2