ORONO – Saturday night’s game against the University of Maine at Alfond Arena wasn’t exactly worth the trip for the University at Albany men’s basketball team, especially since it took a 101/2-hour drive through snow and slippery roads to get here.

The Black Bears showed the Great Danes little sympathy, but they did show improved ball movement and on-court communication, defensive intensity, and determined rebounding as they forged a 32-point lead late in the second half before closing out a 90-71 victory.

“I know what happened with Vermont the other night, but I think after BU [Boston University], Maine’s the best team in the league,” said Albany coach Will Brown. “And tonight, we were so flat I think their coaching staff could have beaten us.”

Maine outrebounded Albany 37-25, outshot the Danes 59.1 to 45.3 percent from the field, and dished out a season-high 31 assists to Albany’s 15. Turnovers were dead even at 18 apiece.

“We played very well for the first 38 minutes. There wasn’t a whole lot we didn’t do well,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “We defended and rebounded well, which we’ve been doing, but the thing we did better was pass the ball well.”

Junior point guard Eric Dobson, who has dished out 25 assists while committing only seven turnovers in his last three games, was the prime passer with nine assists.

Three other players had four or more assists with senior guard Derrick Jackson showing few ill effects from some broken ribs with seven.

“Between our two point guards, we had 16 assists and two turnovers. Shoot, we might beat the Lakers doing that,” Giannini said.

The Maine men evened their America East conference record at 1-1, improved their overall record to 6-8, and remained unbeaten against Albany (3-0) with the win while Albany is 3-8 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Maine senior forward Rickey White, who has been plagued with foul trouble in recent games, enjoyed a career-high 21-point game on 81.8 percent (9-for-11) shooting from the field. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.

The Topsham native was a man possessed as he scored four of Maine’s first six points and had 17 points by halftime.

“I think it was more or less getting out with energy and being able to run the floor. That’s our strength, I think,” White said. “The defensive intensity really helped, too.”

The Bears built a 15-6 lead in the first 51/2 minutes and ballooned it to 41-18 with a 21-4 run as White and senior forward Clayton Brown (21 points) combined for 16 points during the key eight-minute span.

Brown was 10-for-16 from the floor in the game coming off the bench as Giannini elected to go with a three-guard starting lineup of White, center Justin Rowe (12 points, seven boards), and Kevin Reed (12 points, five boards), Dobson, and Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov (four assists).

“When they have [Dobson], [Reed], and [Hadjisotirov] on the court, they’re very good,” said coach Brown.

It was Maine’s fifth different starting lineup this season, but it offered glimpses of the kind of team the Bears can be.

“As far as a complete game, yeah, this might be the best we’ve played this season,” said Jackson, who also canned a pair of 3-pointers.

Maine pushed its lead to 86-54 with 31/2 minutes left, but guard Jamr Wilson scored six to lead a 15-2 Albany run that finished out the game.

Senior swingman Rhasheed Peterson led Albany with a season-high 21 points. Antione Johnson had 16 points and six steals. Freshmen Wilson had 15 points and Levi Levine 13.

BLACK BEARS 90, GREAT DANES 71

Albany (3-8) Maine (6-8)

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

Johnson 6 11 0 0 16 Dobson 3 4 0 7

Opong 0 2 0 0 0 Hadjisotirov 1 7 3

Wilson 6 15 3 6 15 Reed 4 8 1 12

Peterson 7 9 3 4 21 White 9 11 21

Levine 3 9 6 6 13 Rowe 6 6 0 12

Pipkis 0 0 0 0 0 Petkus 0 2 0 0

Wyatt 2 6 2 2 6 Flavin 2 3 0 4

Young 0 0 0 0 0 Dubois 0 1 0 0

Knotts 0 1 0 0 0 Leavitt 0 1 0 0

Campbell 2 5 4

Jackson 2 2 0 6

Brown 10 16 1 21

Totals 24 53 14 18 71 39 66 5 10 90

Albany 24 71

Maine 47 90

3-pt. goals: Albany (9-19): Peterson 4-5, Johnson 4-7, Levine 1-4, Opong 0-1, Wilson 0-2; Maine (7-25): Reed 3-7, Jackson 2-2, Dobson 1-2, Hadjisotirov 1-6, Petkus 0-1, Leavitt 0-1, Campbell 0-3, Brown 0-3

Attendance: 1,437