ORONO – Sunday afternoon’s University of Maine men’s basketball Blue-White game wasn’t intended as a forum to reinvent the wheel.

Actually, since the team is in the midst of a preseason accentuated by a four-game, three-day trip to Canada, there was less emphasis on development and more on simply logging some on-court, game-atmosphere minutes.

“I think a lot of today is coming out here and showing the fans a little flashiness because in practice, that definitely wouldn’t happen,” said forward-center Mark Flavin. “It was a lot of fun and everyone got a lot of minutes.”

Minutes are key since Maine is switching from being a frontcourt-oriented team to one stressing guard play, speed and perimeter shooting.

The 6-foot-10 Flavin, 6-9 forward David Dubois, and 6-10 freshman Olli Ahvenniemi are in the big man mix as Maine goes to a four-guard lineup.

“We have some very good big men who like to body people in our league, so it’s important we improve,” said Flavin, who scored eight points in the first half en route to 19.

Dubois had 13 and Ahvenniemi added two in a more limited role Sunday.

“The problem right now is we’re only playing one big guy at a time and Olli isn’t getting as many repetitions as I’d like him to because I think he can really help us this year and develop into a good player,” said UM coach John Giannini.

The guard play was very solid at times, but also spotty. Returning starters Kevin Reed and Eric Dobson had 21 and 28 points, respectively. Veterans Freddy Petkus (13), Joe Campbell (12), and Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov (2) also logged plenty of time as the Bears utilized various offensive sets.

“I don’t think any combination stood out that much, positively or negatively,” Giannini said. “I don’t think we played as well as we have been in practice. I think part of that might be because we weren’t able to substitute and we ended up playing tired a lot. I thought it was just okay.”

A couple of newcomers stood out: junior college transfer Jermaine Jackson scored 29 points and UNLV transfer Ernest Turner had 25. Unfortunately for Maine, Turner must sit out this current season.