ORONO – John Giannini took special care on Sunday to point out that nearly everyone who checked into the game for the University of Maine played a key role in the Black Bears’ basketball win over conference kingpin Delaware.

The 72-68 victory in front of a lively Alfond Arena crowd of 2,601 was a team effort, Giannini said, as coaches often do.

“I feel badly even singling anybody out because I think so many guys did a good job,” Giannini said.

After a short pause, Giannini ignored his own game plan and proceeded to single out not a top scorer or rebounder, but the game’s top defender: Colin Haynes.

Haynes, a 6-foot-7 junior, was inserted into the lineup just two minutes into the game after Delaware’s Mike Pegues, the reigning America East MVP, had scored three straight hoops against Nate Fox.

Haynes, who had nine points and seven rebounds, made the most of his opportunity.

“Pegues is a load [6-5, 240 pounds]. He’s a super player,” Giannini said. “We put Colin in there and he made it impossible for me to take him out. It’s as simple as that. Colin Haynes guarded him, and guarded him as well as probably anyone can.”

The Black Bears improved to 10-3, 2-0 in league play, while the Blue Hens dropped to 9-3, 1-1. Delaware was coached by associate head coach Sean Kearney. Head coach Mike Brey has the flu and didn’t make the trip to Orono.

Former UMaine star John Gordon, a first-team all-league selection last year for the Hens, didn’t score and played only six minutes in his first action of the year after breaking a bone in his foot.

The Bears were led offensively by Fox, who made 12 of 13 free throws and scored 20 to go with 10 rebounds. Julian Dunkley and Andy Bedard added 10 points each. Bedard handed out seven assists.

Pegues did get his 20 points, but managed only four rebounds in 37 minutes.

“If [this] is how everybody’s gonna play, it’s gonna be really tough this year for me to score,” Pegues said.

Haynes said UMaine’s team approach to slowing Pegues was the key.

“Our game plan was to front him and double with the other big guy,” Haynes said. “And our other big guys did a great job.”

After falling behind 42-33 at the half and giving up five straight points to open the second, the Black Bears got back into the game by unleashing a 15-1 blitzkrieg over a 2-minute, 55-second span.

Among the key plays of the run were three conventional 3-point plays – two by Fox and one by Bedard.

Bedard capped the run when he scraped his defender off a Fox pick and buried a 14-footer with 15 minutes remaining.

That made it 48-48, and from that point the teams swapped the lead seven times over the next 12 minutes before the game’s pivotal possession.

Trailing by one at 66-65, Bedard lost possession of the ball, dove into a pile to retrieve it, and tried to call timeout as he landed in the midst of the scrum.

Officials granted the request and on the ensuing out-of-bounds play, Dunkley – who was overlooked after entering the game during the timeout – nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing. The shot gave Maine the lead for good.

“We made some boneheaded defensive plays down the stretch, most notably when [Dunkley] got such a wide open look,” Pegues said. “That’s ridiculous.”

Fox and Huggy Dye sandwiched an Austen Rowland layup with two free throws apiece over the final 18 seconds to provide the final margin.

Kestutis Marciulionis contributed 13 points and Billy Wells netted 11 for the Blue Hens.

Black Bears 72, Blue Hens 68

Delaware (9-3) Maine men (10-3)

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

Pegues 8 14 4 5 20 Dunkley 4 7 0 0 10

Presley 4 11 1 2 9 Fox 4 15 12 13 20

Marciulionis 4 9 3 4 13 Bedard 4 10 2 3 10

Diouf 1 3 2 3 4 Jackson 2 6 0 0 4

Rowland 3 6 0 0 8 Dye 2 7 4 4 8

Ndiaye 1 1 1 3 8 Thibodeau 2 2 1 1 5

Gordon 0 0 0 0 0 Haynes 4 5 0 0 9

Miller 0 0 0 0 0 Ammons 3 4 0 1 6

Wells 5 7 0 0 11

Totals 26 51 11 17 68 Totals 25 56 19 22 72

Delaware 42 68

Maine 33 72

3-pt. goals: Delaware (5-14): Pegues 0-2, Marciulionis 2-5, Diouf 0-1, Rowland 2-4, Wells 1-2; Maine (3-16): Dunkley 2-5, Bedard 0-4, Jackson 0-3, Dye 0-2, Haynes 1-2

Attendance: 2,601