March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Scoring balance key in UMaine win> Fox, Dunkley, Dye power Black Bears

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Nate Fox scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting as Maine beat Long Island University of Brooklyn 84-63 on Wednesday in the first round of the Holiday Inn Express tournament.

Maine, coming off a fifth-place finish in the Pearl Harbor Invitational, will face the winner of Wednesday night’s Army-Stony Brook game in the final Thursday at 7 p.m.

Julian Dunkley added 17 points as the Black Bears improved to 8-3. Sophomore guard Huggy Dye made four 3-pointers en route to 16 points while senior point guard Andy Bedard made all three of his 3-point attempts and contributed 11 points and four assists.

Perhaps the biggest indication of UMaine’s dominance in the game was the fact that Bedard, who entered the game nursing a broken rib but averaging 38.6 minutes per game, was forced to play just 28 minutes against the Blackbirds.

Fox scored his 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 28 minutes while Dunkley did his damage in just 26 minutes.

The Black Bears picked apart the Blackbirds as they connected on 33 of 58 field-goal attempts in the game. That 57 percent accuracy included a sizzling 12-for-20 (60 percent) effort from behind the 3-point arc.

And on the other side of the court, Maine’s zone defenses held the Blackbirds to just 39 percent accuracy from the floor.

Richie Parker had 21 points for LIU (2-6), which lost its third in a row. Virgil Smiley added 14.

UMaine was aided by the addition of junior forward Carvell Ammons, a transfer from Northwestern and Illinois who was making his first appearance after sitting out the year NCAA regulations require.

Ammons, a 6-foot-6, 200-pounder made four of five field goal attempts, grabbed four rebounds, made two steals and handed out an assist in a busy 16-minute stint off the bench.

Parker hit a pair of jumpers as the Blackbirds jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Fox scored eight points in a 21-4 run that gave Maine a 23-11 advantage.

LIU rebounded with a 12-4 surge, with Parker again hitting two jumpers, to close within five at 28-23, but Maine closed the half with a 14-4 run to take a 42-27 lead into the break.

In the second half the Blackbirds were only able to whittle their way back within nine points. Two Parker free throws made it 47-38 with 16:07 to go, but Dunkley answered with a jumper and a 3-pointer off a Bedard feed to get the Bears rolling again.

Black Bears 84, Blackbirds 63

Maine (8-3) Long Island U. (2-6)

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

Dunkley 7 12 0 0 17 Smiley 7 17 0 0 17

Fox 8 12 5 8 21 Parker 9 18 3 5 21

Bedard 4 7 0 0 11 Fall 1 1 0 0 2

Jackson 1 1 0 0 2 Yearwood 2 9 1 2 7

Dye 6 11 0 0 16 Dobie 4 13 0 0 8

Waterman 1 1 0 0 2 Smith 1 5 0 2 2

Thibodeau 1 5 0 0 3 Bey 3 6 0 0 6

Tibbetts 0 0 1 2 1 Jones 0 0 0 0 0

Haynes 1 1 0 0 3

Croom 0 3 0 0 0

Ammons 4 5 0 1 8

Totals 33 58 6 11 84 Totals 27 69 4 9 63

Maine 42 84

Long Island University 28 63

3-pt. goals: Maine (12-20): Dunkley 3-5, Bedard 3-3, Dye 4-7, Thibodeau 1-4, Haynes 1-1; LIU (5-18): Smiley 3-7, Yearwood 2-5, Dobie 0-5, Bey 0-1

Attendance: 471


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