Black Bears sweep UNH Dobson delivers for Maine

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DURHAM, N.H. – University of Maine senior guard Eric Dobson took over the game with 18 minutes left and led his Black Bears to a 70-58 America East men’s basketball victory over the University of New Hampshire at Lundholm Gym on Wednesday night.

Dobson finished with a game-high 21 points on torrid 8-for-9 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 shooting from the line, dished out a game-high six assists, committed only two of Maine’s 10 turnovers, and even got in the stat columns for rebounds (three), steals (two), and blocked shots (one).

“Dobson was the difference,” said UNH coach Phil Rowe. “The kid decided they were not going to lose, took his team on his shoulders and led them.”

Six unanswered points by the Wildcats sliced Maine’s lead to one point (47-46) with 12 minutes left, but Dobson refused to relinquish the lead as he scored four straight hoops and 12 of Maine’s first 19 points in the second half. Dobson’s eight straight points pushed Maine’s lead to 53-48 with 8:03 left.

“Well, I looked up at the score and we were up pretty good, but then I looked up again and it was 46-47, so I was like ‘We’ve got to score. We’ve got to score,'” Dobson said. “We just told each other to be patient and run the offense and get a good shot.”

And when Dobson – who had a hand in 17 straight Maine points either by assist or score – didn’t get a good shot, he passed to someone who did.

Dobson found Kevin Reed on the left wing for a big 3-pointer with 61/2 minutes left, and then helped lead a 10-3 Maine run with another key assist, a three-point play on a cut to the right block, and two foul shots. His effort cemented the win for the Black Bears, now 9-5 overall and 3-2 in America East.

“New Hampshire has played everyone in this league down to the last minute and for us to pull away, that says a lot of good things about our team,” said Maine coach John Giannini.

New Hampshire dropped to 4-11 overall and 0-5 in the conference.

Reed and Mark Flavin each had 10 points while Bangor’s Joe Campbell had an integral all-around effort with nine points and seven rebounds. His five offensive boards helped the Bears turn around a halftime rebounding disadvantage and give them a 29-26 rebounding edge for the game.

The Bears also outshot the Wildcats 54.2 percent to 50 percent and offset a 19-point outing by junior center Ben Sturgill, who returned to action after an eight-game layoff with a stress fracture in his right foot.

The Bears enjoyed a strong start, scoring seven of the game’s first nine points. After UNH’s 8-2 run made it a one-point game, Maine regained control and momentum in the first half with an 8-2 run fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key by Freddy Petkus seconds after entering the game.

A 12-2 Maine run over the next 31/2 minutes gave the Bears a 31-16 lead, but UNH closed the gap over the final 41/2 minutes by outscoring Maine 14-6.

Maine shot a searing 51.7 percent from the field in the first half and more than held its own in the paint with 22 points to UNH’s 18 despite an 18-14 UNH rebounding edge. A balanced Maine scoring effort saw nine players in the scoring column with Flavin (eight points on 4 of 4 shooting) leading the way.

Flavin gave the Bears a solid inside attack using head fakes, spin moves, power moves and a difficult-to-defend hook shot from the left block. His output took some of the slack from Maine’s perimeter game, which shot 4 of 14 from 3-point range. Maine also did a great job with the ball as it committed just four turnovers to the Wildcats’ eight in the first half.

BLACK BEARS 70, WILDCATS 58

Maine (9-5) New Hampshire (4-11)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Flavin 5 6 0 2 10 Walls 5 9 12

Campbell 3 7 2 2 9 Walker 1 4 2

Dobson 8 9 5 5 21 Peterson 1 2

Reed 3 10 2 2 10 Bullock 2 6 0 5

Markwood 0 4 3 4 3 Childs 1 1 3

Hadjisotirov 1 4 0 0 3 Sturgill 9 11 1 4 19

Petkus 2 3 0 0 6 Friel 0 0 0

Dubois 2 3 0 0 4 Dennis 0 2 1

Ahvenniemi 2 2 0 0 4 Williams 4 9

Liddell 0 0 0 0

Janev 2 4 0 5

Totals 26 48 12 15 70 Totals 25 50 12 58

Maine 37 70

New Hampshire 30 58

3-pt. goals ? Maine (6-21): Flavin 0-1, Campbell 1-4, Dobson 0-1, Reed 2-5, Markwood 0-3, Hadjisotirov 1-4, Petkus 2-3; New Hampshire (3-11): Walker 0-1, Bullock 1-3, Dennis 0-1, Williams 1-4, Janev 1-2

Attendance: 862