Dunkley sparks Maine upset of Friars

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The University of Maine ended a winless string of 22 straight games against Big East opponents in style on Tuesday night by hitting the road and knocking off Providence College 80-71 in front of 6,432 fans at Providence Civic Center.

University of Maine coach John Giannini grouped the win among two other high-profile upsets (Marquette and Northwestern) as the biggest since he’s been at Maine.

“We won’t know how good a season Providence will have for awhile yet, but any time you win on the road in the Big East, it’s great,” Giannini said. “Big East teams are thrilled to come into Providence and win and obviously we’re very thrilled by it.”

The Black Bears had never beaten a Big East team since the inception of the league in 1979-80. UMaine improved to 1-1, while Providence dropped to 1-1.

Julian Dunkley scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 39 minutes of action for the Black Bears while Abdul Mills had 19 for the Friars.

“Julian was a really hard matchup for them because he was a lot quicker and better on the perimeter than their big guys,” Giannini said.

“I can’t say enough good about how Julian played.”

The Black Bears also got 16 points and four assists from Huggy Dye, 13 points from Errick Greene, and 10 from Tory Cavalieri.

Erron Maxey scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Friars while Karim Shabazz finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Giannini said the Black Bears’ formula for success was very simple.

“I think we played harder than they did,” Giannini said. “I think our defense and our rebounding were at a very high level. And offensive we executed and played well enough to score consistently.”

The Black Bears shot 47.6 percent from the floor for the game to Providence’s 44.1 percent and outrebounded the larger Friars 41-36. The Bears also scored 17 points off turnovers.

The Black Bears entered the game with a solid scheme to slow the Friars: They dared the 7-foot-2 Shabazz to shoot from the perimeter and hounded the talented Maxey into a 4-for-12, six-turnover evening.

“We had a good game plan for Shabazz, but the most important matchup for us was Maxey,” Giannini said. “We tried to keep the ball away from him and trap him as much as possible. Carvell Ammons and Colin Haynes did a great job on that.”

The Black Bears took a 38-33 lead into intermission and scored the first hoop of the second half on a Dunkley 3-pointer, then watched as the Friars roared back.

But after Sheiku Kabba nailed a 3-pointer to give the Friars a 44-43 lead and Shabazz followed that up with a low-post hoop to push the bulge to three points, the Black Bears answered.

Dye scored when Shabazz was called for goaltending, then freshman Cavalieri nailed a 3-pointer to put the Bears back on top.

After Romauld Augustin of the Friars tied it again on a tip-in, the Bears continued what would become a 16-7 run and took a lead they’d never relinquish.

Maine led 68-60 after a solo Dunkley effort with five minutes left, but five straight Friar points dug into that advantage as well.

UMaine scored a big hoop with 2:28 to go when the Bears emerged from a timeout, promptly lobbed the ball to Dunkley, and watched him slam it home. That made it 70-65, switched the momentum back in their favor, and sparked a 12-6 game-ending spurt.

The Bears made seven of 10 free throws over the final minute to ice the game.

Black Bears 80, Friars 71

Maine (1-1) Providence (1-1)

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

Dunkley 6 17 5 6 18 Laksa 3 6 0 0 7

Greene 5 9 2 2 13 Maxey 4 12 3 4 11

Ammons 4 9 0 0 8 Shabazz 4 10 0 0 8

Jackson 1 6 1 2 4 Mills 8 12 2 5 19

Dye 6 13 3 4 16 Kabba 4 12 0 0 9

Cavalieri 3 3 3 4 10 Augustin 1 3 1 4 3

Haynes 3 4 0 0 7 Rogers 0 0 0 0 0

White 2 2 0 0 4 Anrin 2 6 0 0 6

Douthit 4 7 0 0 8

Totals 30 63 14 18 80 Totals 30 68 6 13 71

Maine 38 80 Providence 33 71

3-pt. goals: Maine (6-22): Dunkley 1-7, Greene 1-2, Ammons 0-1, Jackson 1-4, Dye 1-5, Cavalieri 1-1, Haynes 1-2; Providence (5-16): Laksa 1-2, Mills 1-2, Kabba 1-5, Augustin 0-2, Anrin 2-5

Attendance: 6,432