Jackson’s defense keys Bears Maine knocks off league-leading Cats

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ORONO – For much of the season, the University of Maine men’s basketball team has watched leads slip away … or someone else hit a big shot to win a game … or a big rebound end up in an opponent’s hands.

On Sunday, the Black Bears took on conference kingpin Vermont. All Maine did was silence the league’s top scorer, put a crimp in the Catamounts’ regular-season title hopes, and snap a four-game losing streak with a 52-49 victory in front of 1,639 fans at Alfond Arena.

“We’re just scared right now,” Vermont coach Tom Brennan said. “We’re not a championship team because we’re just too young and our young kids aren’t responsive enough on the road at this point in time.”

The Black Bears improve to 10-15, 7-7 in league play, while the Catamounts drop to 18-7, 11-3, and slip into a first-place tie with Boston University.

Errick Greene scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out four assists for the Bears while Rickey White, making his first start since returning from a knee injury on Feb. 5, scored 11 and grabbed 10 boards. Clayton Brown added 10 points.

But the biggest star for Maine may have been junior guard Derrick Jackson, who scored just four points on 1-for-7 shooting from the floor. He grabbed seven rebounds and won an individual matchup with Vermont’s T.J. Sorrentine, who entered the game averaging 19.7 ppg and scored only five.

“I’m telling you: [Sorrentine] can play anywhere in the country, and Derrick just totally shut him down,” Maine coach John Giannini said.

The Black Bears finished off the game with an 8-2 spurt, including a 3-pointer from Brown that tied the game at 47-47 with 3:06 to play, a tip-in from White that made it 50-47 with 1:56 to go, and two Jackson foul shots with 5.7 seconds to go to push a one-point edge back to three.

In addition, the Bears made three defensive stops in the final 1:03 to preserve the lead. The last stop came when Sorrentine rattled a 3-point attempt off the backboard and around the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Jackson said he knew slowing Sorrentine down was necessary if the Bears were to win.

“I put it on myself as like a personal matchup,” Jackson said. “Either I win and the team wins, or he wins and his team wins.”

White pointed at the ongoing battle between the two guards as an inspiration for the entire UMaine team.

“With Derrick’s effort, and all the energy that he was giving the team, [the least] I can do is match it and play with him,” White said.

Trevor Gaines scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to pace the Catamounts, while Taylor Coppenrath added 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Brennan said the struggles of Sorrentine were indicative of a problem that has plagued his team recently: They’re starting to feel the pressure of one of the most successful seasons in school history.

“He didn’t have a particularly good game,” Brennan said. “And when your stud, your big stud, doesn’t get it done, that makes a difference.

“And when your big stud’s a 19-year-old sophomore, that’s a lot of pressure to put on him.”

BLACK BEARS 52, CATAMOUNTS 49

Vermont (18-7) Maine (10-15)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Anderson 1 3 0 1 2 Tibbetts 1 3

Gaines 11 22 0 2 22 White 4 8 11

Coppenrath 7 16 1 1 15 Rowe 0 2 4

Sorrentine 2 15 1 2 5 Jackson 1 7 4

Anderson 1 2 0 0 2 Greene 5 14 14

Goia 0 5 0 0 0 Petkus 1 2 0 2

Hehn 1 4 0 0 3 Flavin 1 1 0 2

Njila 0 5 0 0 0 Campbell 1 2

McLaughlin 0 0 0 0 0 Brown 4 9 10

Totals 23 72 2 6 49 Totals 18 49 12 14 52

Vermont 24 49

Maine 20 52

3-pt. goals: Vermont (1-16): Gaines 0-1, Sorrentine 0-6, Anderson 0-1, Goia 0-5, Hehn 1-2, Njila 0-1; Maine (4-18): Tibbetts 1-3, White 0-2, Jackson 0-2, Greene 1-3, Campbell 0-2, Brown 2-6

Attendance: 1,639