Reed’s six 3-pointers help Bears down Northeastern

loading...

BOSTON – Seven days after what could be its most disappointing loss of the season – a 10-point setback to heavy underdog New Hampshire on the road – the University of Maine men’s basketball team came to Beantown to see what difference a week could make.

The Black Bears overcame another turnover-plagued game with solid defensive pressure, dominating inside play, deadly accurate outside shooting, and foul shooting – something that has not been a Maine strength to this point.

The final outcome was a convincing 90-76 America East victory over the Northeastern Huskies, a team that knocked off Big East power and top-25 team Boston College a little more than a week earlier.

“We still had too many turnovers. I mean, 26 in a game is an incredible number,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “I’ve said all along if we keep playing defense and rebounding and shooting the way we are, how good could we be if we got our turnovers under 20 a game? We could have a chance to be an elite team.”

Freshman guard Kevin Reed had an elite performance for the 7-9 (2-2 in America East) Bears as he canned six of 10 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points.

“The big turning point was Reed’s 3-point shooting late and the fact they basically ran by us,” said NU coach Ron Everhart, noting Maine’s 10 fast break points and 25 points off NU turnovers.

Maine hit 14 of 20 from 3-point range, a sparkling 70 percent, and converted 22 of 28 free throws (79 percent).

Northeastern fell to 7-9, 0-3 in conference play.

While Reed patrolled the outside, senior center Justin Rowe manned the inside for Maine with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and eight blocked shots in front of a partisan red-and-black-clad Solomon Court crowd that included a few agents and professional scouts, one of whom represented the Boston Celtics.

Senior guard and captain Derrick Jackson made the most of his first start in a couple of weeks with a season-high 11 points, the same amount scored by senior forward Clayton Brown, who also contributed six boards off the bench.

Seemingly lost in Maine’s postgame offensive hoopla was the job done by junior point guard Eric Dobson, who dished out nine assists and scored nine.

“We really need him to be an elite point guard and today he was close to that,” said Giannini. “I think Eric, Justin and Clayton are the keys to our team because they’re the ones who have the most variance in their performances.

“They’re very talented and need to be good for us night in and night out,” he added. “Tonight all three of them were and that’s why you get a win like this.”

Sophomore guard Freddy Petkus got more minutes subbing for Boston College transfer guard Udo Hadjisotirov, who was nursing an ankle injury suffered against Albany, and made the most of them with nine points.

BLACK BEARS 64, HUSKIES 50

Northeastern (3-11) Maine (9-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Williams 2 9 2 2 6 Heon 3 11 8

Kowalski 0 5 2 2 2 Traversi 2 8

Vanin 2 6 0 0 4 Ernest 5 12 10 18

Jefferson 2 6 2 2 6 Jay 2 3 4

Decerbo 4 8 1 2 9 Veilleux 4 10 2 2 10

Alexander 0 0 0 0 0 Hickman 0 0 0

Zwarich 3 13 1 2 8 Corbitt 0 2 2

Andersson 6 9 1 2 13 Geraghty 3 8

Newsome 1 4 0 0 2 Gay 0 0 0

Harris 0 0 0 0 0 Quacknbsh 0 0

Sheppard 0 0 0 0 0 Peterson 0 4

Schrader 1 4 2

Totals 20 60 9 12 50 Totals 20 56 21 29 64

Northeastern 21 50

Maine 26 64

3-pt. goals ? Northeastern (1-10): Williams 0-2, Kowalski 0-5, Vanin 0-1, Jefferson 0-1, Zwarich 1-1; UMaine (3-14): Heon 0-1, Traversi 2-4, Ernest 0-2, Veilleux 0-2, Corbitt 0-1, Geraghty 1-4

Attendance: 1,681