Cavalieri sparks UMaine win

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DOVER, Del. – The University of Maine Black Bears erased an 11-point second-half deficit, thanks to 9-0 and 8-1 spurts and a game-ending 10-2 flurry, to overcome Delaware State 74-65 in a men’s basketball game Saturday afternoon.

The Bears improved to 7-3 while Delaware State fell to 2-7.

Freshman guard Tory Cavalieri keyed the 9-0 run by nailing a 3-pointer, sinking a pair of free throws and dishing to senior forward Carvell Ammons for a layup that triggered the spree.

That reduced Delaware State’s lead to 53-51 with 10:56 remaining.

Maine tied it 1:27 later on a Huggy Dye jumper.

Marty Bailey regained the lead for the Hornets with a 3-pointer but the Bears rattled off the 8-1 flurry to take the lead for good.

Cavalieri hit two free throws and, after Delaware State’s Andre Matthews sank a foul shot, Dye’s jumper tied it and Errick Greene converted a Cavalieri steal and pass with a layup to give Maine its first lead of the game, 62-60, with 6:26 remaining.

Another Cavalieri pass to Ammons for an easy lay-in extended the lead before Miles Davis’ three-pointer closed the gap to one.

Maine scored the next five points on Ammons’ free throw; his layup off a Cavalieri pass and Dye’s jumper following a Colin Haynes steal.

Delaware State could get no closer than four the rest of the way.

A Haynes layup with 55 seconds remaining and his free throw 24 seconds later made it 72-65.

The Hornets had manufactured a 53-42 lead thanks to a 9-2 spurt that featured two Davis jumpers and three free throws by Marty Bailey after Haynes and Dye were assessed technical fouls.

The Bears put four players in double figures as Cavalieri, Dye and Julian Dunkley scored 15 apiece and Ammons contributed 13. Cavalieri had 12 of his points in the second half; Dye had 10 and Ammons chipped in with nine second-half points.

Ammons had a team-high nine rebounds with Greene and Cavalieri dishing out four assists each.

Derrick Jackson had five steals for Maine.

Matthews’ 15 points and three assists paced the Hornets. Bailey scored 12 points and Brandon Calvert contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Davis had nine points and a game-high seven assists.

The Hornets jumped out to a 13-4 lead behind two Matthews 3-pointers and two Calvert jumpers.

Delaware State eventually built the lead to 33-22 with 2:34 left in the half but Maine cut it to 37-32 at the half as Dye, Dunkley and Jackson all hit 3-pointers.

The Black Bears outrebounded the Hornets 32-23 and outscored them 19-9 from the free-throw line.

Maine was 19-for-26 from the charity stripe while Delaware State was 9-for-15.

The Black Bears will play four of their next five games at home beginning with Saturday’s 1 p.m. game against Sacred Heart University of Bridgeport, Conn.

Black Bears 74, Hornets 65

Maine (7-3) Delaware State (2-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Greene 2 3 0 1 4 Hightower 2 6 0 0 5

Ammons 5 10 3 6 13 Matthews 6 8 1 2 15

Dunkley 6 7 0 0 15 Calvert 5 7 1 4 11

Jackson 1 6 2 2 5 Davis 4 9 0 1 9

Dye 6 11 2 2 15 Bailey 3 10 3 4 12

Cavalieri 2 7 9 10 15 Nathaniel 1 2 2 2 4

Haynes 2 2 3 5 7 Johnson 0 1 0 0 0

Brown 0 0 0 0 0 Moore 2 3 2 2 7

White 0 0 0 0 0 Stephanenkov 1 3 0 0 2

Totals 24 46 19 26 74 Totals 24 49 9 15 65

Maine 32 74

Delaware State 37 65

3-pt. goals: Maine (7-19): Dunkley 3-4, Cavalieri 2-5, Jackson 1-4, Dye 1-6; Delaware State (8-23): Bailey 3-9, Matthews 2-4, Moore 1-1, Hightower 1-3, Davis 1-4, Johnson 0-1, Stephanenkov 0-1

Attendance: 241