BOSTON – Squandering a 16-point, second-half lead in 71/2 minutes might overwhelm some teams.

Even after being the victim of such a momentous turnaround Sunday afternoon, the University of Maine responded with the game on the line.

Freddy Petkus buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 47.6 seconds remaining, then Justin Rowe answered a Northeastern basket by dunking a missed Derrick Jackson shot with 6.6 seconds left, lifting the Black Bears to a thrilling 74-73 America East men’s basketball victory at Solomon Court.

Coach John Giannini’s Bears had led by as many as 16 points with 12:25 to play, but had to survive a furious comeback by the Huskies, who regained the lead eight minutes later.

“We obviously had too many turnovers late in the game… We missed a key rebound or two. But all that being said, it was as gutsy a performance as we could have asked for,” Giannini said.

UMaine won its fourth straight game, pushing its record to 9-11, including a 6-3 conference mark. The Huskies dropped to 5-17 and 3-8, respectively.

Northeastern had wiped out an 18-point deficit in the last nine minutes here Friday to beat Hartford.

“I’m thrilled to get out of here with a win,” Giannini said. “They’re a tough team at home.”

Northeastern made it happen with swarming man-to-man full-court pressure that took UMaine out of its rhythm and forced most of the Bears’ 14 second-half turnovers.

“Northeastern applies so much pressure you literally cannot run a play,” Giannini said. “They made the game player against player as opposed to systems or execution having any impact on it at all.”

The Huskies grabbed a 71-69 lead on Toby Brittian’s rebound basket with 57.6 seconds to play. After a UMaine timeout, NU tried to pressure the Bears out front, but Greene dribbled through traffic to the foul line and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Petkus in the left corner.

Petkus calmly drained a 3-pointer to put UMaine back in front.

“Freddy Petkus’ shot was a gigantic shot not only on the impact on the game, but also in terms of the poise it takes to make a shot like that,” said Giannini.

Jamaar Walker responded with a 17-footer that put NU up 73-72 with 15.3 seconds left.

With time winding down, Jackson slashed in from the right side. His shot missed, but Rowe was there to slam home the rebound with 6.6 seconds left.

“Derrick took the shot and the guy in front of me thought it was a clean rebound, pretty much,” Rowe said. “I don’t think he knew I was there. I reminded him I was there.”

NU called a timeout, but its plan failed when Jackson stripped the ball away from Walker on a drive to the hoop and knocked the ball out of bounds with 1.1 to play. Jean Bain took the inbounds pass deep in the left corner, but couldn’t hit a fall-away 3-pointer with Petkus in his face as the buzzer sounded.

Rowe, the Bears’ 7-foot center, led the way for UMaine with 19 points (on 9-for-12 shooting) and 14 rebounds. Walk-on freshman forward Joe Campbell of Bangor also sparkled, contributing 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.

Errick Greene provided 12 points and five assists and Clayton Brown added 11 points for the Bears, who shot 57 percent from the field and outrebounded NU 36-26.

While UMaine lacks depth, Campbell said the players are accustomed to having to perform in the second half.

“We do a lot of drills in practice where it’s get four stops in a row and really work with pressure and at times like this when you need to make a big play and make a big stop,” Campbell said. “We’ve been working hard on that.”

Dunn, a sophomore walk-on, poured in 29 points for Northeastern. Meshak Burke-Bennett chipped in with 10.

The Huskies trailed 58-42 when they began their resurgence. Burke-Bennett converted two conventional three-point plays to fuel a 12-2 scoring run that made it 60-54 with 8:25 left.

Ricky Cranford’s layup off a Jean Bain steal gave the Huskies a 67-65 lead with 4:13 left.

BLACK BEARS 74, HUSKIES 73

Maine (9-11) Northeastern (5-17)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Tibbetts 2 4 0 0 4 Nlandu 2 3 5

Campbell 4 7 6 7 16 Bain 2 9 9

Jackson 2 5 2 2 6 Walker 1 3 3

Greene 4 7 4 8 12 Cranford 1 4

Rowe 9 12 1 4 19 Dunn 9 14 7 29

Petkus 2 3 0 0 6 Hancock 1 4 2

Flavin 0 0 0 0 0 West 2 4 4

Brown 3 8 3 4 11 Brittian 3 7

Burke-Bennett 4 8 10

Totals 26 46 16 25 74 Totals 25 56 16 27 73

Maine 36 74

Northeastern 29 73

3-pt. goals: Maine (6-17): Tibbetts 0-2, Campbell 2-5, Jackson 0-1, Petkus 2-3, Brown 2-6; Northeastern (7-24): Nlandu 0-1, Bain 2-7, Cranford 0-4, Dunn 4-7, Hancock 0-3, Brittian 1-1, Burke-Bennett 0-1

Attendance: 636