Defense, physical inside play lead Maine men

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ORONO – Toughness, both mental and physical, and intangibles.

They weren’t necessarily things last season’s University of Maine men’s basketball team could list as strengths, but judging by Maine’s first four games, they are this season.

Despite an injury-depleted bench and the graduation of last year’s starting frontcourt, the Black Bears combined tough defense and physical inside play with last season’s staple – perimeter shooting – to notch an impressive 79-69 win over Brown University Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium.

“I thought it was a great win. They made a strong run at us and we had guys playing major minutes where fatigue could have worn them down, but we hung tough mentally,” said John Giannini, coach of the 3-1 Bears. “I loved the toughness and the effort we showed. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

In the Maine Invitational Tournament’s early game, the University of Maine-Fort Kent Bengals rallied to beat the University of New England 72-66.

The Bears seemed to feed off the intense atmosphere offered by The Pit and the 1,300 fans watching from one sideline and directly above the court as they took the lead 81 seconds into the game, built it up as high as 15 points in the first half, withstood a 10-0 Brown run, and answered it with their own.

Maine led 50-39 with 12:57 to play, but Brown’s Bears clawed back as freshman forward P.J. Flaherty scored his only points on back-to-back hoops from the left block and senior Jamie Kilburn did the same to fuel the run and shrink the deficit to 50-49 with 8:38 to go.

Sophomore guard Kevin Reed, who had been held to seven points by Brown guard Luke Roscoe, then ignited his game and supplied the sparks to keep Maine’s sputtering offensive engine running by canning back-to-back 3-pointers from the left side.

“They had that big run and I just told the guys ‘we didn’t build that lead for us to have to claw back and win a close game,’ so when it got down to a one-point lead, we knew we needed stops and scores,” said Reed, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds. “We just fought back and I guess we were the tougher team tonight.”

Reed added a conventional three-point play by driving into the right block, laying in a basket, and drawing a foul to put Maine up 61-54 with 5:32 left.

“We made some shots and that re-energized us,” Giannini said. “I’ll tell you, our guys were pretty tough today and that’s not a clich?.”

Everyone had a hand, fingertip, or torso in this victory:

. Senior Mark Flavin continued developing as an offensive threat while also making himself a defensive presence. The 6-foot-10 forward finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, and six blocked shots.

“It’s all about getting down low and once you get in there, you start getting comfortable,” Flavin said. “Dave [Dubois] and I just kept our hands straight up. It felt like they were shooting it right into our hands.”

. He scored only one point, but junior forward Joe Campbell of Bangor was solid defensively, turning in two momentum-changing plays in the second half with screens on Jason Forte that left Brown’s guard sprawled on the court.

“Joe’s legal and well-conceived screens were a big factor in disrupting their flow,” Giannini said.

. Maine point guard Eric Dobson logged 39 minutes of solid all-around play as he led the team with 19 points and seven assists while also grabbing six boards.

. Maine guard Freddy Petkus filled the void left by Reed’s slow start and knocked down five of nine 3-pointers en route to 15 points and six rebounds.

. Dubois subbed for Flavin, but also teamed up with him to form a viable 1-2 inside punch en route to 14 points and nine rebounds.

. Jon Wallingford of Auburn had two points, but played dogged defense on point man Marcus Becker while spelling his fellow guards.

“I give them a lot of credit, they were just more physical than us, especially their front line,” said coach Glen Miller, whose Bears are 2-3. “The discipline they had in their execution we lacked at times, and their play on the glass and in post defense hurt us.”

In the early game, the 0-5 UNE Nor’easters led most of the game until 3-7 UMFK used a 9-0 run to take the lead with 4:30 left. Shane Durost of Mars Hill scored five of his 12 points in the final three minutes as the Bengals finished with a 9-3 run.

Center Bartas Samaitas led UMFK with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Roy Goldstein chipped in with 14 and nine.

“We were very encouraged. It was nice to see on the ‘ESPN bottom line’ the score showing Brown beat us by 22 [Friday],” said UMFK coach Eric Werntgen. “Today, we got a good one against a quality opponent.”

Mark Regis led UNE with 16 points, and Tom Button had 11 points and nine rebounds.

BLACK BEARS 79, BEARS 69

Brown (2-3) Maine (3-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Powers 7 17 2 2 23 Dobson 9 18 19

Ruscoe 3 9 2 3 8 Petkus 5 10 15

Forte 1 11 0 0 3 Reed 5 14 18

Kilburn 7 15 0 1 14 Dubois 4 7 14

Manhanga 2 7 2 4 7 Campbell 0 1

Becker 2 4 2 2 6 Wallingford 0 2

Logan 1 2 0 0 2 Flavin 4 5 10

Salter 1 3 0 0 2 Bruff 0 0 0

McDonald 0 0 0 0 0

Flaherty 2 4 0 0 4

Totals 26 72 8 12 69 27 59 14 19 79

Brown 28 69

Maine 40 79

3-pt. goals ? Brown (9-26): Powers 7-13, Manhanga 1-2, Forte 1-4, Kilburn 0-1, Salter 0-2, Ruscoe 0-2, Becker 0-2; Maine (11-25): Petkus 5-9, Reed 3-9, Flavin 2-3, Dobson 1-1, Wallingford 0-1, Campbell 0-2

Attendance: 1,343

BENGALS 72, NOR’EASTERS 66

U-NEW ENGLAND (0-5) UM-FORT KENT (3-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

McManus 4 13 0 0 12 Samaitas 8 14 8 12 24

Oliver 2 4 0 0 5 Cooper 2 2 4

Pierce 2 7 0 0 4 Goehring 2 5

Berthiaume 2 10 4 5 9 Goldstein 5 14 2 2 14

Button 5 9 1 3 11 Veloso 2 5 6

Regis 6 16 0 0 16 Durost 4 8 12

Warner 0 0 0 0 0 Trinity 2 5 4

Farynaz 0 0 0 0 0 Esancy 0 0 0

Mills 0 2 0 0 0 Bayanilla 0 0

Chapman 2 2 0 2 5 Nadeau 1 3 3

Hardy 1 5 0 0 2 Henry 0 1 0

Thomas 1 2 0 0 2

Totals 25 70 5 10 66 26 56 16 31 72

UNE 35 66

UMFK 30 72

3-pt. goals ? UNE (11-35): McManus 4-10, Regis 4-13, Chapman 1-1, Oliver 1-2, Berthiaume 1-4, Pierce 0-1, Hardy 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Mills 0-2; UMFK (4-15): Goldstein 2-7, Goehring 1-1, Nadeau 1-3, Trinity 0-1, Veloso 0-1, Samaitas 0-2

Attendance: 800 (est.)