Turnovers costly in Maine loss

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ORONO – It was another head-shaker for the University of Maine men’s team, coaching staff, and fans Tuesday night at Alfond Arena.

The Black Bears outshot Dartmouth College from the field and outrebounded the Big Green overall, but they also outdid them in one other key category: turnovers.

Maine’s shooting (41.5 percent) and rebounding (28 defensive and 41 overall) weren’t quite enough as the Big Green worked overtime to pull out a 68-65 victory and snap the Bears’ four-game win streak.

“If someone had told me they’d shoot 34 [34.5] percent in the game and get outrebounded by 12, I’d be shocked that we lost,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “But the reason why is turnovers. It’s the same stuff from last year … They had eight turnovers and we had 19.

“If we’re ever going to get to be a legitimately good team, that has to change.”

Three of those 19 came in five minutes of overtime, when Maine’s only score came courtesy of a 3-pointer from the right wing by Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov, who returned to action after a three-week injury layoff.

Not only did the 2-5 Big Green take care of the ball, they were also near-perfect at the foul line, where they canned each of their 18 foul shots after halftime and 19 of 20 overall.

Dartmouth freshman guard Leon Pattman scored 17 of his 19 points after halftime in a tight affair that never saw a lead higher than nine points.

Hadjisotirov’s 3-pointer gave Maine a 65-64 lead with 1:21 left in overtime, but it was short-lived as Pattman and Steve Callahan (10 points, 10 rebounds) combined to hit four of four free throws in the final 51 seconds.

Point guard Eric Dobson led the 4-2 Bears with 16 points and five assists while Bangor’s Joe Campbell had 14 points and seven rebounds.

“We were prepared well for their attack by our scout team, but it’s tough to simulate what they do,” Dobson said of Dartmouth’s patient, deliberate offensive style and tight, man-to-man and zone defense.

What they do is slow the tempo down and frustrate quicker, more athletic teams which like to run and play at a higher tempo. Dartmouth head coach Dave Faucher prefers the term “controlled” to slow-down when asked about his team’s style.

Maine players would simply call it frustrating.

“We have to forget about this game, but remember it … And we have to learn from this,” said Campbell.

Sophomore guard Kevin Reed had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Reed hit a 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds to play to tie the game at 52. Dartmouth elected not to call timeout and went for the last shot. Calvin Arnold’s shot from the right wing missed and Dobson got the rebound, but his desperation heave was far short of the basket as time ran out.

Dartmouth led by nine with 3:29 to play before the Bears began to bite back and shrink the lead to four points with two minutes left. A 9-2 Maine run left the Bears down two points with 1:20 to go and a 3-point play by Dobson made it one with 29.5 ticks left. Two free throws by Callahan with 21.5 seconds left gave the Green a 62-59 lead before Reed’s big shot sent it into overtime.

The Big Green used a 12-0 run early in the second half to erase Maine’s biggest lead of the first 25 minutes (40-33) and take a five-point lead with 10:56 to play.

The Black Bears outrebounded the Big Green 18-10 and outshot it 52.4 to 35.7 percent from the field, but only managed to take a two-point lead into halftime as Dartmouth was able to take advantage of 10 Maine turnovers while committing only four itself. Both teams canned five 3-pointers in the half. Maine was a sizzling 55.6 percent from the 3-point arc while Dartmouth made five of 12.

BIG GREEN 68, BLACK BEARS 65 (OT)

Dartmouth (2-5) University of Maine (4-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Callahan 2 9 4 4 10 Dobson 6 12 16

McLaren 4 11 2 2 13 Petkus 2 5 6

Lang 4 8 2 2 13 Reed 5 15 0 12

Pattman 5 13 8 8 19 Dubois 0 1 3

Gardner 4 8 0 0 8 Campbell 4 14

Cuttica 0 0 0 0 0 Wallingford 0 0

Warren 0 1 0 0 0 Hadjisotirov 4 10

Liddy 0 0 0 0 0 Flavin 1 6 4

Arnold 0 4 3 4 3

Klingbeil 1 4 0 0 2

Totals 20 58 19 20 68 22 53 11 13 65

Dartmouth College 26 36 6 68

University of Maine 28 34 3 65

3-pt. goals ? Dartmouth (9-28): Lang 3-6, McLaren 3-10, Callahan 2-6, Pattman 1-6; Maine (10-23): Campbell 4-5, Hadjisotirov 2-3, Petkus 2-5, Reed 2-7, Wallingford 0-1, Flavin 0-2

Attendance: 1,065