BANGOR – The last time he was in Johnston Gym, Jeremy Kervin had to be helped off the court after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during a playoff game.

Tuesday night, Kervin tore into the Eastern Maine Community College defense and led his Unity Rams to a significant 75-69 comeback basketball victory over the Golden Eagles.

The win was 3-4 Unity’s second of the season against EMCC, which blew out the Rams in that Maine Small College Conference playoff game last season.

Kervin scored 22 of his game-high 34 points in the second half and shot 62.5 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line to help the Rams shake poor foul shooting and 33 turnovers. The Rams overcame their turnover woes with an eye-opening 62-36 rebounding advantage.

“We’ve got really strong big guys. We had to hustle and box out and slow it down,” said Kervin, a junior conservation/law enforcement major from Hodgdon who also grabbed 18 boards. “We were trying to rush ourselves, which was playing into what they do well because they have much faster guards than we do.

“We took our time and ran the offense and got some open shots. They got confused and upset with themselves and that played into our hands.”

Unity answered a 15-4 EMCC run early in the second half with a 10-2 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a one-point lead with 10:35 left to play. The Eagles scored five straight points, but Unity answered again with a 12-3 run that gave it the lead for good.

The run coincided with the absence of EMCC’s big forward Cyle Arbuckle (11 points, nine boards, three assists), who fouled out with 8:30 left.

“Once their big guy, number 44, fouled out, that opened a big opportunity for us and we pounded it inside,” said Kervin.

The other half of Unity’s 1-2 inside punch was Jared Erskine, who had just five points and shot 1-for-7 from the line, but made up for that with 19 rebounds and four assists.

“I was scared because I know free throws can win games, but at least I was able to make up for it on the boards,” said the sophomore forward from Greene. “We’re big, but we’re also slow, so it helps to control the boards.”

Guard Noah Schneider came up with 29 points and eight boards for the Rams while Matt Kent dished out a game-high six assists.

“This is such a tough place to play, but our kids showed a lot of character and persevered through some things,” said Unity coach Matt Bennett.

Sophomore guard Daryl Watson of Orono led the Eagles with 22 points and three assists.

“Every time we’d get some momentum going, they’d call timeout and then they’d go on a spurt. It was a game of momentum and they had most of it late,” Watson said. “I think the biggest thing was we kept fouling Kervin and he didn’t miss many free throws. We needed to try and foul somebody else.”

Joe Dionne had 15 points and seven rebounds for 1-2 EMCC. Aaron Peebles added 13 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals.

RAMS 75, GOLDEN EAGLES 69

Unity (3-4) Eastern Maine C.C. (1-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rivard 0 0 0 0 0 Watson 6 21 10 22

Kent 1 7 2 2 5 Pellon 2 8 0 5

Schneider 11 19 6 8 29 Peebles 6 14 13

Kervin 10 16 12 16 34 Boyington 1 3

Lucas 0 1 2 4 2 Dionne 6 14 15

Erskine 2 10 1 7 5 Beaulieu 0 0

Belonick 0 2 0 0 0 Curtis 0 0 0

Burpee 0 2 0 0

Arbuckle 4 12 11

Plummer 0 2 0 0

Totals 24 55 23 37 75 25 81 14 26 69

Unity 28 75

EMCC 29 69

3-pt. goals ? Unity (4-7): Kervin 2-2, Schneider 1-2, Kent 1-3; EMCC (5-22): Watson 2-11, Dionne 1-2, Peebles 1-2, Pellon 1-3, Arbuckle 0-1, Boyington 0-3

Attendance: 93