NORFOLK, Va. – Daryl Towe scored the first seven points of the game and 10 points in overtime to help Norfolk State University to an 84-81 men’s basketball win over the University of Maine at Joe Echols Hall Tuesday night.

Maine drops to 2-7 while Norfolk State improves to 3-6.

The Bears received a mammoth 45-point effort from senior guard Errick Greene in the loss.

Towe finished with 21 and Terrence Winston tossed in 35 for the Spartans.

UMaine 7-footer Justin Rowe didn’t score a point in the game’s first 30 minutes, but dunked a Greene miss with 0.5 seconds to go in regulation to send the game to overtime. He finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Rickey White added 14 points while Freddy Petkus had 10 for the Bears.

UMaine trailed by six points after Winston hit two free throws with 46 seconds to go in regulation, but a hoop and two free throws from Greene, coupled with two missed one-and-one opportunities for the Spartans in the final 28.6 seconds, set the stage for Rowe.

The Bears benefited from an errant inbounds pass by Norfolk State’s Chakowby Hicks with 36 seconds to play. Hicks’ attempt at a court-length pass hit the scoreboard. Greene hit two free throws on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to 71-69.

UMaine put together a 14-5 run early in the second half, pulled within two points, and had three chances to tie the game on one possession but came up empty. Norfolk State promptly tossed in a pair of hoops to re-establish a six-point cushion at 55-49.

The Bears finally took the lead for the first time all night when Greene nailed a 3-pointer with 7:30 to go.The Black Bears take a 12-day hiatus before returning to action against the University of Massachusetts on Dec. 23.

The first half consisted of a series of sustained runs by each team, and ended with the Spartans of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference holding a 40-31 lead.

The Black Bears dug themselves a hole early, giving up seven points to one player in the opening minute of action, then getting burned on two straight 3-pointers by another to fall behind 13-2 in the early going.

But they rebounded in style, reeling off a 17-0 run of their own to take the lead.

Towe scored the first hoop of the game on a dunk off the opening tip and took advantage of two straight UMaine turnovers to score on a conventional three-point play and a layup off a backcourt steal.

That made it 7-0, and the Bears hadn’t attempted a shot from the floor.

Winston pushed the lead to 13-2 when he rained in back-to-back 3-pointers.

Over the next five minutes, the Bears held the Spartans scoreless, got three 3-pointers from Freddy Petkus and six points from Errick Greene en route to a 19-13 lead.

Then it was Norfolk State’s turn to take control of the game: The Winston-led Spartans putting together a 22-2 run of their own.

Maine answered – again – with a brief 7-0 spurt to make it 35-28 with three minutes to play in the half.

SPARTANS 84, BLACK BEARS 81 (OT)

Maine (2-6) Norfolk State (2-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Petkus 3 9 1 2 10 Winston 12 15 35

Greene 15 27 13 14 45 Hicks 4 8 10

Campbell 2 4 0 0 4 Towe 9 17 21

White 6 12 2 6 14 Seward 0 0 0

Rowe 4 8 0 0 8 Aladi 2 5 0 4

Wallingford 0 0 0 0 0 J. Byrd 0 2 2

Tibbetts 0 2 0 0 0 Mills 2 2 5

Dubois 0 1 0 0 0 Smith 0 2 0

N. Byrd 0 0 0 0

H. Byrd 0 2 0 0

Boyd 3 8 1 7

Totals 30 63 16 22 81 Totals 32 61 12 19 84

Maine 31 71 81

Norfolk State 40 71 84

3-pt. goals: Maine (5-15): Petkus 3-6, Greene 2-6, Campbell 0-2, Tibbetts 0-1; Norfolk State (8-14): Winston 7-9, Hicks 1-2, Towe 0-1, J. Byrd 0-1, Smith 0-1