Maine men knock off Drexel

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ORONO – Tory Cavalieri is a number of things, as his coach can tell you.

The University of Maine point guard is quick. He’s skilled. Often he’s a key cog in the Black Bear offense, like he was Saturday afternoon during a 92-78 win over Drexel.

There are a few words, however, that are rarely used in conjunction with the freshman from Atlantic City, N.J.

Among those: Quiet. Unassuming. Overly modest.

Consider Cavalieri’s reaction to word that Drexel had entered Saturday’s showdown figuring that a guy who had made 37 percent of his shots this season (31 percent from outside the 3-point arc) wouldn’t likely be the Bear who beat them.

“Stats don’t mean nothing to me,” Cavalieri said, pointing out that many of his shots aren’t as simple and straight forward as the ones Drexel conceded to him.

“If [Drexel coach Steve Seymour] wants to let me shoot, you see the results.”

Here are the results: Cavalieri connected on seven of 12 shots en route to a career-high 21 points. He also handed out eight assists and grabbed an eye-opening seven rebounds in front of a Senior Day crowd of 4,139 at Alfond Arena.

“He’s a kid who’s been struggling from the three on the season,” Seymour said. “…We wanted to see if he could put a couple of shots together, and he did at a very crucial stretch that extended their lead and put the game out of reach for us.”

The Black Bears improved to 17-8, 10-6 in America East play, while the league’s second-ranked team dropped to 15-10, 12-5.

In spite of Cavalieri’s offensive success, coach John Giannini said the defensive effort he put forth in slowing the league’s leading scorer, Stephen Starks, was more important.

“Here’s the thing that only the people in our locker room know, and here’s one of the biggest stories of this game,” Giannini said. “Starks made some shots late, but when the game was on the line, he didn’t score. Tory is the only guy I’ve seen, on our team or on any other team this year, that’s been able to hold Starks down.”

Starks finished with 27 points but got 12 of those in the game’s final 12 minutes, after Cavalieri had helped stake the Bears to an 11-point lead.

The two teams battled through eight ties and nine lead changes over the game’s opening 23 minutes before UMaine launched a 9-0 run that helped blow the game open.

Julian Dunkley scored five of those on a 3-pointer from the right wing and a pull-up 10-footer, and Cavalieri capped the run with a 3-pointer on a feed from Huggy Dye.

That shot made it 53-44 with 14:15 to play, and Drexel never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Dunkley (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Cavalieri combined to score 16 of UMaine’s first 17 points of the second half and fuel that run.

Dunkley said a more aggressive attitude on his part paid off, as he attacked defender Mike Kouser off the dribble. And once he started rolling, the Bears followed suit.

“I just felt that every time I had the ball they pretty much didn’t have anybody who could guard me,” Dunkley said. “I was just in a little bit of a zone and wanted to make plays. Not just plays for myself, but plays for everybody.”

Carvell Ammons added 14 points for the Bears while Dye and Errick Greene scored 13 each.

In addition, the Bears began to increase the defensive pressure and make entry passes to Joe Linderman and Mike Kouser more difficult. Linderman managed only five of his 15 points after intermission and Kouser had six of his 17. Each grabbed nine rebounds.

Black Bears 92, Dragons 78

Drexel (15-10) Maine (17-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Howard 3 7 0 0 8 Dunkley 8 15 24

Starks 11 20 3 4 27 Greene 5 10 13

Sanders 2 4 0 0 4 Haynes 2 3 5

Kouser 6 13 2 3 17 Dye 4 6 13

Linderman 7 12 1 2 15 Ammons 5 10 14

Storm 0 1 0 0 0 Cavalieri 7 12 4 7 21

Whitworth 0 1 1 2 1 Tibbetts 0 0

Schmieder 2 5 0 0 4 Riley 0 0 0

Battle 0 0 0 0 0 Jackson 0 3 0

Deveney 1 1 0 0 2 Brown 1 1 2

Totals 32 64 7 11 78 Totals 32 60 19 30 92

Drexel 37 78

Maine 36 92

3-pt. goals: Drexel (7-18): Howard 2-5, Starks 2-6, Kouser 3-6, Whitworth 0-1; Maine (9-20): Dunkley 2-7, Haynes 1-1, Dye 3-4, Ammons 0-2, Cavalieri 3-6

Attendance: 4,139