BU tames cold-shooting Bears

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ORONO – What looked like a Boston University blowout turned into a nail-biter, but the Terriers were still able to scrape out a 64-53 win over the University of Maine men at Alfond Arena Wednesday night.

The win was BU’s seventh straight over Maine and snapped a five-game Bears’ win streak. The Terriers lead America East with a 13-1 record (19-4 overall) while Maine dips to 16-8 overall and 10-5 in the conference.

Maine coach John Giannini was not happy with his team’s overall offensive play despite a late charge that slashed a 19-point second half BU lead to three with 4:42 to play.

“Offensively, we’re frankly not doing what the coaches want. Our guards are not getting done what the coaches want and that’s clear by our team production and individual stats,” Giannini said. “It’s as plain as day and if it doesn’t change, we won’t be able to compete with the good teams.”

What the guards weren’t doing was holding the ball when no open shot was readily apparent and working it inside-outside against BU’s tenacious halfcout trap and man-to-man defense. Instead, they were shooting first and not asking questions later.

“Offensively, we’re atrocious and within our team, the reason why is obvious,” Giannini said.

Maine’s backcourt duo of Eric Dobson and Kevin Reed were a combined 8-for-26 from the field (30.8 percent). Dobson (10 points, seven assists) hit only one of his first 11 shots.

“At the beginning of the game, we were forcing shots and taking shots too quickly,” said Maine guard Kevin Reed, who was 4-for-10 for a team-leading 12 points. “In the second half, we were working it into the post and trying to get some fouls, but they weren’t calling them.”

Indeed, the Terriers hit nine of 12 from the line in the first half and 22-of-32 overall while Maine was 0-for-1 in the first and 3-for-7 overall. Giannini opted not to try and explain the disparity.

“I don’t know. [America East assistant commissioner] Matt Bourque is here and you’ve got tape recorders,” he said with a smile. “When one teams shoots 32 free throws and the other team shoots seven, you’re probably not going to win the game. By far, the biggest factor was our poor performance in the first half, but you just can’t have that big a discrepancy in free throw shooting. That’s shocking.”

The Bears shot 33.3 percent and were outrebounded 25-17 while BU built a 37-22 halftime lead, but the Bears revved it up defensively in the second half.

Eventually, the Bears managed to shake themselves out of their offensive funk and even got their post game cranking despite foul trouble. Midway through the second half. Maine used an 11-2 run keyed by the inside play of David Dubois and Mark Flavin to cut a 17-point BU lead to seven with nine minutes left.

Maine got it all the way down to three points with 4:42 left, but BU had one last run in its pocket and outscored Maine 10-2 with tight defense and 6-for-8 foul shooting to keep the Bears at bay.

The Terriers canned nine of 12 free throws in the final 41/2 minutes and committed just four turnovers in the second half to Maine’s 11.

Maine held BU to 29.2 percent shooting in the second half en route to 34.5 overall.

Giannini hopes the loss is a wakeup call for the Bears, who have three road games left in the regular season.

“Yeah, I think so because we’ve gotten away with it in some close wins,” he said.

Flavin finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Reed had six rebounds.

Shaun Wynn had 13 points to lead the Terriers, but it was the play of Kevin Gardner (seven points, eight rebounds, five blocks) off the bench that was a big factor in BU’s favor.

Maine debuted a new starting lineup on “senior night” featuring: seniors. The new-look Bears more than held their own early as Maine took an 8-4 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Freddy Petkus and Jon Wallingford and was only down by three points midway through the first half.

TERRIERS 64, MAINE 53

Boston University (20-4) Maine (16-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bell 3 10 6 7 12 Petkus 2 5 0 6

Butt 2 5 0 1 4 Flavin 4 10 0 9

Fitzgerald 1 2 0 0 3 Wallingford 1 3

Wynn 5 8 2 4 13 Dobson 4 16 1 10

Carr 2 9 7 9 11 Hadjisotirov 1 3 2

Grochowalski 2 9 4 4 9 Reed 4 10 12

Gardner 2 3 3 7 7 Dubois 2 2 4

Turner 2 9 0 0 5 Ahvenniemi 1 2

Markwood 2 6 5

Totals 19 55 22 32 64 21 55 53

Boston University 37 64

Maine 22 53

3-pt. goals ? Boston U (4-14): Bell 0-2, Butt 0-1, Fitzgerald 1-2, Wynn 1-2, Carr 0-1, Grochowalski 1-3, Turner 1-3; Maine (8-21): Petkus 2-4, Flavin 1-2, Wallingford 1-2, Dobson 1-4, Hadjisotirov 0-1, Reed 2-6, Markwood 1-2

Attendance: 2,143