UMaine facing pivotal test on the road Black Bears seeking 20-win season

ORONO – With five games left on the regular season schedule, the University of Maine men are shifting from one goal to another.

“I’m happy for all our players, because this locks in a winning season and sets us up for our next big goal, which is 20 wins,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “That’s a really big deal, but it’s going to be extremely difficult.”

Giannini won’t get much argument there. The 15-7 Bears have a challenging stretch run as four of five games are on the road and three of five are against the top three teams in the America East conference.

With a 9-4 conference record, the Black Bears have a chance to finish as high as first, but that would require AE leader and defending champ Vermont’s help … And it’s highly unlikely the Catamounts will lose four or five of their final six games.

Maine, currently tied for third with Northeastern, will begin this crucial stretch run on the road in Albany, N.Y., Saturday against the 4-18 Great Danes. Sounds like an easy win, but so did Wednesday’s 60-58 win over 6-17 New Hampshire.

“Going to Albany will be a challenge. Vermont barely hung on to win there, but I think it’s a game we should win,” Giannini said. “Then we’re home against a very good BU team. We’ll see what happens. They’re all winnable games.”

They are, but the Bears are riding a six-game losing streak against the Boston University Terriers dating back to the start of the 2001-02 season. Throw in road games against Northeastern and conference unbeaten Vermont, who have each won two straight against Maine, and extending a five-game win streak to 10 seems arduous at best.

While going 5-0 the next two weeks may be doubtful, playing competitively in all five is not.

“We never get blown out. We’re in every game until the last two or three minutes, win or lose,” said Giannini. “We never have someone manhandle us.”

Maine’s worst conference loss this season was by 14 points to Binghamton. The Bears avenged that a month later by handing the Bearcats their worst loss – by 33 points. Maine’s worst loss overall was a 20-point decision to Atlantic Coast Conference member Florida State University.

“We’re still upset about the Florida State game because it was a six-point game with 30 minutes left,” Giannini said. “We’re still angry about that.”

Last year, the Bears won four straight in this same time period, but then lost four of their final six. Could history repeat itself? It could, but this team is 9-4 in AE play, not 7-5 like last year’s at this point.

Also, this one appears less apt to break down in the stretch. Although maybe not as physically gifted as last season’s squad, this year’s appears to be more in synch as a team and more apt to win the ones that barely got away a year ago.

“Not to say we didn’t hang out together in previous years, but this year we really have strong bonds with each other and it’s not like we have separate groups within the team,” said junior swingman Joe Campbell of Bangor. “It’s really been fun, on and off the court.”

If Maine can win at least three of its next five, it could get a lot more fun.