UMaine makes the most of no-show

ORONO – Preseason exhibition games present college basketball teams with an endless number of possibilities.

Sometimes, a club team shows up with a solid, veteran roster that can provide a good test for the university team that issued the invitation. Sometimes it arrives without some of its stars, and gets blown out.

And some times – like on Saturday night – the team doesn’t even show up to take the court.

The University of Maine men’s basketball team waited 30 minutes for the Boston Area Basketball Club Alumni to arrive at Alfond Arena on Saturday, then decided to stage a Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage instead.

Coaches hoped that BABC would show up before halftime so the Black Bears would at least get the chance to play a half of basketball against outside competition.

It didn’t happen. Some BABC players eventually showed up at about 8:30 p.m. – an hour after the scheduled tipoff – but the Bears were already involved in second-half Blue-White action.

UMaine coach John Giannini was angered by BABC’s no-show, and said the team, which also arrrived late for an exhibition contest last year, wouldn’t be invited back.

“You only get two exhibition games. This would have been a team that would have given us a better read of where we’re at,” Giannini said. “I’m just extremely disappointed and we won’t be scheduling this team ever again.”

Fans who purchased tickets to the game were told that they can exchange them for tickets to any future UMaine men’s home game. Fans were asked to stop by the athletic ticket office at Alfond Arena after Nov. 20 to make the exchange.

Black Bear senior forward Julian Dunkley said he was eager to take on a BABC squad that had knocked off Boston College in an exhibition contest and boasted a roster with proven players.

“We wanted to just get out there and play against some fresh faces,” Dunkley said. “We battle against each other every day in practice, and we wanted to get out there and get a chance to whup up on somebody different.”

Instead, the Black Bears were left to “whup up” on each other. … again.

Dunkley scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Blue squad to an 80-59 victory in a fast-paced affair marked by few timeouts and virtually no halftime break.

Dunkley’s Blue squad also got 17 points from Carvell Ammons. Errick Greene pitched in with 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists while Derrick Jackson added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Huggy Dye paced the White squad with 22 points. Clayton Brown added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Ammons said Dunkley had predicted on Monday that BABC wouldn’t show up for the game, and said as soon as the game was delayed, he figured his teammate had been right. Ammons said that though he had wanted a chance for a final tuneup against outside competition before the Bears open at eighth-ranked Illinois on Nov. 17, another intrasquad game may have been better for UMaine.

“The last couple exhibition teams I’ve seen come up to Maine, they weren’t even really worth the time,” Ammons said. “I think in the long run this is a lot better for us. We got out there and got a lot of playing time.”

Giannini said he was impressed with how his team managed to get in a solid workout after the disappointing start to the evening.

“I’m just glad that we salvaged a day from our team’s development standpoint, and even a conditioning standpoint,” Giannini said.