The Eastern Maine Technical College Golden Eagles haven’t been playing too many official basketball games lately, but coach Tom Libby hopes a steady diet of scrimmages has prepared his team for the National Small College Athletic Association tournament.

The NSCAA split into two divisions this year, and the Division I teams headed to Florida last week for its championship tourney.

Division II teams are coming to Maine: The tourney will be held in Lewiston beginning Sunday. Libby’s 12-14 Golden Eagles are the No. 5 seed in the eight-team tourney and will face No. 4 Northern Maine Tech on Tuesday.

“Honestly, we have a legitimate chance to be competitive,” said Libby, whose team is preparing by scrimmaging against a group of Husson College alums led by Raymond Alley. “It’s pretty well-balanced. Any one of the teams could win it.”

The Golden Eagles have three proven scorers in 6-foot-3 senior Nick Wiberg of Stonington (20 ppg, 13 rpg), 6-3 Brad Galley (17 ppg) of Campobello, New Brunswick, and James Osborne (17 ppg) of East Millinocket.

They’ll be joined in the starting lineup by Chris Leighton of Brewer (8 ppg) and Mike Dow of Hampden (12 ppg).

Libby said having three solid scorers, including two who can step out and shoot from the perimeter in Galley and Osborne, tends to open things up for the burly Wiberg.

“We try to use a lot of isolations and take advantage of our advantages,” Libby said.

UMaine baseball off to hot start

The University of Maine baseball team is attracting some attention early this season, having won its first seven games – a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by a Black Bear squad since 1903.

Prior to this southern trip, coach Paul Kostacopoulos had hoped his team could avoid the kind of start (1-14) that plagued the Bears last year. The team has come through.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but everybody has more confidence,” Kostacopoulos said Friday. “Quietly, we’ve won 22 of our last 28 games. It’s quietly, because we didn’t reach our goals [the America East Tournament] at the end of last season.”

The Bears have played well overall, but have been led by a couple of key performers.

Wednesday night, upwards of 20 major league scouts were drooling over UMaine lefthander Rusty Tucker, who scattered three hits and struck out 10 during a six-inning stint as the Bears beat Bethune-Cookman 5-2.

Tucker, who was 5-2 last season, is a gritty competitor.

“He threw the best game that he’s thrown at Maine,” Kostacopoulos said. “He was 86-89 [mph]. It was a tremendous performance.”

While the junior’s stock appears to be rising steadily, the scouts also might be checking out Black Bears slugger Joe Drapeau.

The redshirt sophomore from Biddeford has been on a tear this season, going 15-for-28 (a team-leading .536 average) through six games. Drapeau leads UMaine with four home runs, 20 RBIs and 14 runs scored.

The 2000 America East Rookie of the Year now has belted 20 homers with 70 RBIs in his first 55 games in a Black Bear uniform.

“Joe’s a scary man [with the bat] right now,” Kostacopoulos said. “[Thursday] night he hit two [home run] balls that combined for 900 feet. He is just on fire right now.”