FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Senior guard Errick Greene hit a layup with 38 seconds left and sank three free throws and grabbed a defensive rebound down the stretch to lead the University of Maine men’s basketball team to a 67-61 non-conference victory over Sacred Heart Sunday afternoon.

Greene finished with a game-high 23 points and he also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out four assists for the 2-6 Black Bears, who won their second straight.

Greene scored nine of Maine’s final 12 points.

Junior Rickey White of Topsham scored 16 points, thanks to six-for-six shooting from the field, and had five rebounds. Junior center Justin Rowe gathered in a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 11 points.

Freddy Petkus and Bangor’s Joe Campbell combined for 17 more points.

Tre Samuels’ 15 points and five assists and Andrew Hunter’s nine points paced the Pioneers.

Welch, Mike Queenan and Kibwe Trim shared the team lead in rebounds with five apiece.

Maine outrebounded Sacred Heart 37-28.

The Black Bears never trailed after answering a game-opening jumper by Samuels with a 13-point run. White had seven of those 13 points.

Sacred Heart closed to within three with an 11-3 run that closed the gap to 19-16.

But the Bears took a 35-28 lead into the intermission thanks to 70 percent shooting from the floor (14-for-20). Sacred Heart was just 13-for-33 (39.4 percent).

A White jumper off a Campbell pass gave Maine a 43-32 lead with 15:52 remaining but Samuels scored the next five points as Sacred Heart closed to within five.

Queenan’s jumper closed the gap to 48-44 with 11:35 remaining and the Pioneers crept to within 61-59 on Hunter’s free throw with 1:59 left.

Greene turned the ball over but Hunter missed a 3-pointer with 1:19 left and Rowe hauled in the rebound.

Greene missed a jumper that was rebounded by Queenan with 54 seconds left.

Omar Wellington missed a jumper with 44 seconds remaining and Rowe corralled the rebound.

Greene then hit his layup to give the Bears some breathing room.

Samuels missed a foul shot six seconds later and Greene grabbed the rebound and he was fouled by Hunter.

He hit both free throws to make it 65-59 with 29 seconds remaining.

Welch hit a jumper with 19 seconds left and Greene was fouled by Chris Assel on the ensuing inbounds pass.

Greene hit one of two from the line and, nine seconds later, Samuels missed a 3-pointer that was rebounded by Rowe.

He was fouled by Welch and wound up hitting once from the free throw line to sew it up.

Maine went 23-for-40 from the field (57.5 percent) in the game while limiting Sacred Heart to 40 percent shooting (26-for-65).

However, Sacred Heart turned the ball over just five times compared with Maine’s 18.

Maine visits Norfolk State (Va.) Tuesday night.

BLACK BEARS 67, PIONEERS 61

Maine (2-6) Sacred Heart (2-4)

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

Petkus 3 5 0 0 9 Wellington 2 6 5

Greene 7 15 9 12 23 Samuels 7 13 0 15

Campbell 3 6 0 0 8 Hunter 3 10 9

White 6 6 4 6 16 Welch 3 7 2 8

Rowe 4 7 3 6 11 Yokono 0 1 0 0

Tibbetts 0 1 0 0 0 Queenan 3 6 6

Dubois 0 0 0 0 0 Assel 3 9 0 7

Croom 0 0 0 0 0 James 2 4 1 5

Hairfield 0 1 0

Trim 3 8 0 6

Totals 23 40 16 24 67 Totals 26 65 5 12 61

Halftime: Maine 35-28

3-pt. goals: Maine (5-6): Petkus 3-4, Campbell 2-2; Sacred Heart (4-17): Wellington 1-4, Samuels 1-4, Hunter 1-4, Assel 1-5

Attendance: 414