Reed, Brown spark Maine Bears roll past G.T. Express

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ORONO – If University of Maine men’s basketball coach John Giannini had a checklist of things he wanted to see in Monday night’s exhibition game against the Canadian G.T. Express team, there wasn’t much left unchecked.

“I was just pleased with broad picture. I thought the combination of defense, running and rebounding was the kind of overall play we like,” he said. “There was no one I was displeased with. I thought everyone played pretty well.”

The Black Bears combined defensive pressure, a dominant effort on the boards, and solid overall shooting to take a 74-46 victory over the team of ex-collegians based in Toronto in a game which had to be prematurely ended due to condensation buildup on the floor.

Warm temperatures outside caused condensation from the ice rink below the boards to seep up onto the floor and the game was ended with 10 minutes and 30 seconds left to play.

“Too bad we couldn’t finish the game. Everybody wanted to play a little more, but the most important thing is that nobody gets hurt,” said senior forward Clayton Brown, who had 13 points and seven rebounds.

If Giannini seemed remarkably upbeat for a coach after his team’s first non-intrasquad scrimmage game of the season, he had reason to be. Maine’s seventh-year coach is looking for drastic improvement in the backcourt and the 1,200-plus fans on hand saw plenty of that.

Much of it was due to the play of true freshman Kevin Reed of Yarmouth, Mass. Reed scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, shot 63.6 percent from the field, made three assists, and showed great quickness and decision-making on the break.

“He [Giannini] wants the guards to take care of the ball, keep turnovers down, shoot when you’re open, and knock down open shots,” the 6-foot-1 guard said. “I think what works well for us is getting the ball down the court quickly.”

Junior guard Eric Dobson, a junior college recruit from Immokalee, Fla., also impressed as he scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

Maine jumped out to a 10-4 lead and then used 10-0, 8-2 and 9-2 runs in an eight-minute span of the first half to take a 23-point lead. The Bears shot 53.8 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers to 22 for G.T. Express, which was led by Novell Thomas (10 points).

Despite foul trouble on Brown and center Justin Rowe, the Bears outrebounded G.T. 35-22. They also scored 12 of their 18 second-half points in the paint as Rickey White (nine points, seven boards) and center Justin Rowe (six points, five boards, three blocks) dominated the pivot.

“We just try to box out and control the boards because if you control the boards, you control the game,” Brown said.

MAINE 74, G.T. EXPRESS 46

G.T. Express Maine

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Salesman 1 6 2 2 5 Dobson 5 7 11

Passley 3 8 0 0 6 Jackson 2 2 6

Thomas 0 1 2 2 2 Brown 2 6 10 13

Schmidt 4 9 0 0 10 White 4 6 9

Belasco 3 6 0 0 6 Rowe 3 6 6

Smith 0 1 2 2 2 Petkus 1 2 2

Hutchinson 0 1 0 0 0 Reed 7 11 19

Strickland 2 3 4 7 8 Hill 1 7 2

Hampton 2 5 2 2 7 Campbell 3 6

Donegelmans 0 2 0 2 0 Dubois 0 1 0

Totals 15 42 12 17 46 28 32 14 16 74

G. T. Express 37 46

Maine 56 74

3-pt. goals: G.T. Express (4-15): Salesman 1-2, Passley 0-3, Schmidt 2-5, Belasco 0-1, Hampton 1-4; Maine (4-16): Dobson 1-1, Brown 0-3, Petkus 0-1, Reed 3-6, Hill 0-4, Campbell 0-1

Attendance: 1,234