Terriers find range to top Black Bears 3-point flurry keys win

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ORONO – After a terrible shooting effort in the first half, the Boston University Terriers found the range in the second to win the rematch of the 2002 America East men’s basketball championship game.

The Terriers showed why they were the preseason pick to defend their conference title as they enjoyed a rapid reversal in terms of shooting, engineering a 19-point turnaround to go from a nine-point halftime deficit to a 63-53 win over the University of Maine at Alfond Arena Wednesday night.

After shooting 25.9 percent from the floor in the first half, BU shot 50 percent in the second. More importantly, they also doubled their 3-point shooting accuracy from 25 to 50 percent as they canned seven of 10 in the second half.

The Terriers improve to 12-7 overall and 7-1 in the conference while Maine falls to 8-12 and 3-5.

“We’re obviously extremely disappointed,” UMaine coach John Giannini said. “This is a team that doesn’t quit and works hard, but just doesn’t know how to win basketball games.”

The Terriers’ biggest lead was the final score as Maine was able to keep their second half deficit to seven points or less most of the time. Maine pulled within three points with 4:36 to play on Rickey White’s fast break hoop following a blocked shot and rebound by Justin Rowe on the other end, but BU had an answer.

Jason Grochowalski scored on a nine-foot turnaround jumper from the right side, and Paul Seymour, who came off the bench to lead BU with 14 points, followed with a 3-pointer from the left wing just 27 seconds later to boost BU’s lead to eight with 3:13 to play.

“I thought Seymour’s three was really the one play that determined the game, and that was not a difficult play to guard,” said Giannini. “We just break down defensively at the wrong times.”

Despite having committed just two fouls to BU’s seven with 13 minutes left in the game, Maine was unable to exploit its advantage.

“Our guards just tried to win the game on their own because they’re confident and aggressive, but we don’t execute,” Giannini said.

Maine scored four straight to get within four, but BU worked the ball around to force Maine to foul and hit five of six from the line in the final 42 seconds.

Freshman guard Kevin Reed led the Bears with 14 points, nine of which he scored in the first half. Center Justin Rowe had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and six of Maine’s 10 blocked shots – which ties a school record for team blocks in a game.

The Terriers stormed out of the locker room and scored 20 of the first 24 points in the second half to take an eight-point lead (39-31) with 15 minutes left. The flurry was keyed by a 3-point barrage with Butt and Seymour each hitting two in the first four minutes. Back-to-back 3’s by Jason Grochowalksi and Billy Collins capped the run for BU.

TERRIERS 63, BLACK BEARS 53

Boston University (12-7) 63 Maine (8-12) 53

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Fitzgerald 2 7 0 0 5 Dobson 3 11 12

Bell 4 8 1 2 9 Reed 4 7 3 14

Collins 3 7 3 4 10 Jackson 1 3 3

Turner 0 2 0 0 0 White 5 10 10

Butt 3 9 2 2 10 Rowe 3 8 5 11

Seymour 5 10 0 0 14 Petkus 0 0 0

Wynn 0 1 0 0 0 Hill 0 2 0 0

Carr 2 6 1 3 5 Brown 1 9 1 3

Grochowalski 4 6 0 2 10

Gardner 0 0 0 0 0

Czaplinski 0 3 0 0 0

Totals 23 59 7 13 63 17 50 15 21 53

Boston University 19 63

Maine 27 53

3-pt. goals: Boston University (10-24): Seymour 4-6, Grochowalski 2-3, Butt 2-5, Fitzgerald 1-2, Collins 1-4, Turner 0-2; Maine (4-12): Reed 3-5, Jackson 1-2, Hill 0-1, Brown 0-2, Dobson 0-2

Attendance: 2,284