December 22, 2024
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Brown, White deliver easy win for UMaine Bears beat up Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne

ORONO – United Parcel Service (UPS) has brown. The University of Maine men’s basketball team has Brown and White.

In terms of delivering, both seem to be very reliable right now.

Brown and White teamed up for 40 points and 17 rebounds as the Black Bears made it look easy with a 92-67 victory over Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne at Alfond Arena.

The Mastodons simply had no answer for Brown as the senior forward scored 25 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the floor and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

White also had four steals and three assists for a great all-around game.

“They played very well tonight, especially inside-out,” said IPFW coach Doug Noll. “They’re not very big, but they’re very skilled, they’re phyical and strong, and they really back you down a lot.”

Senior center Justin Rowe had 11 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore guard Freddy Petkus came off the bench for 12 points as Maine improved to 13-14 on the season.

“This was perfect for us in that we had room and they needed one more game. It was also a game against a quality opponent who won five of their last seven games,” said Maine coach John Giannini of the independent Mastodons, who finish their season 9-21.

Maine outrebounded IPFW 46-27, outshot the Mastodons 55.7 percent to 36.4 from the floor, and dished out 19 assists to IPFW’s nine, but also committed 21 turnovers to IPFW’s 11.

The Mastodons made a modest 9-0 run at the Bears and cut a 20-point Maine lead to 13 with 10:45 left in the game, but Maine extended its cushion again by reeling off eight unanswered points during an 11-2 run three minutes later. The Bears never led by less than 19 the rest of the way.

“One of the big keys to the game is a very good 3-point shooter for them who’s played very well lately, but he had zero against Clayton and Rickey,” Giannini said. “And Collins is their leading scorer, but Derrick [Jackson] and Eric [Dobson] did a great job on him.

“If you really shut down two of their three leading scorers, you’re going to have success.”

The Mastodons were without season leading-scorer [Ric Wyand] and 6-10 junior forward Jim Kessenich, who has missed the last two weeks with mononucleosis and an enlarged spleen.

Sophomore forward David Simon won his duel in the paint with Rowe as he finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Dobson led Maine with six assists. Kevin Reed had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Maine used a 14-1 run midway through the first half to turn an 11-10 deficit with 13:52 left into a 24-12 lead with 10:56 to go. An IPFW 3-pointer was answered by back-to-back 3’s by Freddie Petkus and Ludmil Hadjisotirov.

Together, Petkus and Hadjisotirov shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the half.

Brown led the Bears with 11 points and nine rebounds in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting from the floor. Rowe had seven boards in the half.

The Bears used an 11-1 run over a three-minute period to give themselves more breathing room and take a 43-23 lead with 4 1/2 minutes left.

Maine had a commanding advantage on the boards with 27 rebounds to IPFW’s 12. The Bears also outshot the Mastodons 51.5 to 37.5 percent in the first half.

BLACK BEARS 92, MASTODONS 67

IPFW (8-21) Maine (14-14)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Collins 1 8 0 0 3 Reed 4 10 10

Wyand 2 7 0 1 4 Jackson 0 0 1

Woodall 1 6 0 1 2 Brown 12 15 25

Jennings 1 6 1 2 3 White 4 9 15

Simon 9 17 8 10 26 Rowe 4 7 11

Carouthers 2 4 3 4 7 Wallingford 1 2

Noll 5 10 1 2 14 Dobson 1 4 2 4

Clevenger 3 8 1 2 8 Hadjisotirov 3 9

Thrasher 0 0 0 0 0 Petkus 4 7 12

Hill 1 2 0 3

Campbell 0 1 0

Totals 24 66 14 22 67 34 61 15 17 92

IPFW 33 67

Maine 48 92

3-pt. goals ? IPFW (5-19): Collins 1-4, Wyand 0-2, Woodall 0-1, Carouthers 0-1, Noll 3-8, Clevenger 1-3; Maine (9-21): Reed 2-7, Dobson 0-1, Hadjisotirov 3-5, Petkus 3-6, Hill 1-1, Campbell 0-1

Attendance: 1,288


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