ORONO – A year ago, John Giannini’s team began its season with a 7-3 record – just like it has the last three years.

Hopes were high. Just like always. The Bears figured that this time, that elusive NCAA bid might be in the offing.

Then, over the last two months of the season, the Black Bears slowly crumbled, as dissension rotted the team’s morale from the inside out.

They limped down the stretch, losing five of their final eight games, and were eliminated from the America East tournament in the semifinal round by eventual champion Hofstra. The final record may have been 18-10, but the season remained one defined by missed opportunities.

“I think that was our downfall,” junior Clayton Brown said. “There was a lot of selfishness between everybody on the team. It wasn’t just one or two players. It was between everybody on the team.”

But as a new season looms, both Brown and Giannini are smiling. They each think that last year’s woes are behind the Black Bears.

They’ve got a skilled 7-foot newcomer in Justin Rowe. They’ve got some talented players who have waited for their turns to shine. And (perhaps most importantly) everyone seems to get along.

“I think this year we don’t have that selfishness,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of players who are ready to come out there and play hard for each other.”

And Brown said people will notice that right from the start.

“I think it will be a lot better for the players and for the fans. They don’t want to see someone shooting the ball all the time, or somebody not taking one for the team or being selfish,” Brown said. “I think [fans] will see a lot more togetherness and a lot more fun. And, of course, a lot more smiles.”

Giannini said that in early practices, a new attitude has become apparent.

“We are very open, and we always have been very open, about the problems last year’s team had in terms of chemistry,” Giannini said. “Even now we’re amazed at how well this team passes the ball, even though we don’t have a lot of good passers.

“The difference is that this team has willing passers. They play together easily. They’re not worried about playing professionally, putting up statistics and numbers.”

The Black Bears will enter the new-look America East – Hofstra, Delaware, Drexel, and Towson bolted last spring – without several familiar faces, but with the same goal: to win the league title and earn the school’s first NCAA bid.

Gone are all-league first-teamer Carvell Ammons (15.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and second-teamer Julian Dunkley (16.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg) due to graduation, along with all-rookie selection Tory Cavalieri (transfer) and former all-league pick Huggy Dye (dismissed from team).

But in their stead are players who have waited – sometimes impatiently – for their chance to shine.

“Yeah, we’ve got seven newcomers,” junior captain Derrick Jackson said. “But they’re getting better every day. They know the system now. So things haven’t even changed.”

Well, one thing has: This year the Bears have the “Big Rush.”

That’s the nickname of the 7-foot Rowe, who received that label after teammates told classmates that the big kid they saw traipsing across campus was a Russian recruit. In fact, Rowe is really from Springfield, Mass., and transferred to Maine from Clearwater (Fla.) Christian College.

Rowe (rhymes with now) once blocked 23 shots in a high school game, and he’s expected to be a dominant defender who could turn into a potent scorer.

Jackson, a defensive standout, says having Rowe around does change the way he can go about his business.

“I know I can pressure a little more, knowing I have a safety net in the back,” Jackson said.

And Giannini said he’s brainstorming ways to take advantage of Rowe’s shot-blocking presence and avoid having teams force the 7-footer to defend on the perimeter.

“Two things that we don’t have in yet are a four-person scramble press with Justin as a goalie … and zone defenses that keep him back there as a safety,” Giannini said.

Senior Errick Greene saw Rowe practice all year when he sat out the NCAA-required season in 2000-2001. He knows what the rest of America East will see.

“We’re expecting a lot out of Justin this year,” Greene said. “As far as defense, blocking shots, intimidating people, getting his dunks. I don’t see anybody in the league stopping him. I don’t see anybody in the country really stopping the Big Rush.”

Among the players who will step into the lineup are Brown, who broke out for 14 points and nine rebounds in the regular-season finale last year, and Rickey White, a former star at Mount Ararat High in Topsham.

“[I’ve been looking forward to this] pretty much since I graduated from high school,” White said. “It was a rough start, having to sit out two years without playing. And last year I came in with some big hitters ahead of me, so I had to wait my turn.”

Brown could surprise people with his offensive skills: He ranks 17th all-time on New Jersey’s high school list with 2,446 points.

Giannini said the offseason has provided some challenges. But he thinks the Bears have met them.

“Losing Tory and Huggy unexpectedly, the main effect is in terms of depth,” Giannini said. “I still think we have six players who are ready to be outstanding players in the America East, and I still think our freshmen are excellent recruits for us.”

The only problem: It may take the Bears awhile to meld into the unit Giannini thinks they can become.

“I really think this is a team that is going to be dramatically better in December than it is in November,” Giannini said. “And I think it’s a team that will be better in January and February than it was in December.”

For that to happen, the Bears will likely depend on the experience and leadership of two captains early on.

Those two – versatile swingman Greene and defensive stopper Jackson – have played important roles in the past.

Greene averaged 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest as a junior and can play four positions. Jackson has routinely drawn the toughest backcourt defensive assignment over his two years in Orono and has scored 6.3 ppg in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

That duo will team with Brown, White, and Rowe to form the Bears’ starting unit. The first man off the bench will likely be newcomer Ricky Green, a junior transfer who scored 22 ppg at Shawnee Junior College in Illinois last year.

And fifth-year senior Todd Tibbetts, a 6-7, 190-pounder who has played a total of 42 minutes over the past two years, has stepped into the role of seventh man, which is particularly gratifying for Giannini.

“A player who’s dear to my heart, and I don’t think a lot of people have given due credit to, is Todd Tibbetts,” Giannini said.

“He has followed through on our plan for him. When we recruited Todd, we told him there was no guarantee of him playing. There was no guarantee of him earning a scholarship. … This kid would clearly be a dominant player anywhere else in the state, but he stuck to his guns, he’s been patient, and he’s gonna get an opportunity.”

Senior captain Jamar Croom, a 6-8, 250-pounder, will be asked to spell Rowe for brief stints.

David Dubois, a 6-8 freshman from Quebec, and Mark Flavin, a skilled 6-10 redshirt freshman from Weymouth, Mass., may also contribute early on. Freddy Petkus is a 6-5 sniper who has been battling a high ankle sprain all preseason. He could also pitch in.

Bangor’s Joe Campbell, who hit a buzzer-beating shot to help the Rams to the 2001 state Class A title, is expected to redshirt. But that could change depending on Maine’s backcourt health.

Men’s Basketball

November

1 ? Maine 64, Carleton 56 (exhib.)

4 ? G.T. Express 73, Maine 70 (exhib.)

12 ? at Arkansas (Preseason NIT, first round)

14 ? Preseason NIT, second round

16 ? vs. Texas-San Antonio*

17 ? vs. Florida International/ St. Peter?s*

20 ? Delaware State, 7:30 p.m.

21 ? Preseason NIT, semifinals

23 ? Preseason NIT, consolation and championship

25 ? Troy State, noon

30 ? vs. Lamar, 8:20 p.m.**

December

1 ? vs. Michigan State/IUPUFW, 6 p.m./8:20 p.m.**

9 ? at Sacred Heart, 2 p.m.

11 ? at Vermont, 7 p.m.

23 ? at Massachusetts, 2 p.m.

30 ? Brown, 1 p.m.

January

2 ? Albany, 7:30 p.m.

6 ? at Stony Brook, TBA

11 ? at Vermont, 7 p.m.

13 ? at Albany, 1 p.m.

17 ? Hartford, 7:30 p.m.

20 ? at Binghamton, 1 p.m.

27 ? at New Hampshire, TBA

31 ? Binghamton, 7:30 p.m.

February

3 ? at Northeastern, TBA

5 ? at Hartford, 7 p.m.

8 ? Boston University, 7:30 p.m.

10 ? Stony Brook, 1 p.m.

14 ? New Hampshire, 7:30 p.m.

17 ? Vermont, 1 p.m.

21 ? Northeastern, 7:30 p.m.

24 ? at Boston University, 1 p.m.

March

2-3 ? at America East Tournament, quarterfinals and semifinals

9 ? America East Championship

*-Florida International Tipoff Classic, Miami, Fla.

**-Coca-Cola Spartan Classic, East Lansing, Mich.