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BOSTON – Runs, rallies, and even an on-court rumble. This game pretty much had it all, except a victory for the University of Maine men’s basketball team.
The Northeastern University Huskies clinched third place in the America East Conference by fighting off the Maine Black Bears 99-89 at Solomon Court Thursday night.
Sophomore guard Jose Juan Barea continued his Bear-baiting play with 32 points – 20 of which came in the first half – to lead the 18-10 Huskies to their third straight win over the Bears, who are now 17-9.
“I don’t know what it is about Maine, but my first couple shots went in and every time that happens, I get my rhythm,” said Barea, who averages 20.5 points per game, but has scored 38, 34 and 32 points against the Bears the last three meetings.
The Huskies jump ahead of the Bears with a 12-5 AE mark. Maine is 11-6.
“As usual, Barea was tremendous. He’s a great player, but he’s especially amazing against Maine lately,” said Maine coach John Giannini. “The most critical part of the game is when we had a four-point lead. I felt very good about our chances. Then Barea makes a bomb on us, cuts it to one, and we have three straight turnovers and the four-point lead turns into a five-point deficit.
“That stretch is where we lost the game.”
It only got worse after that and any doubts about the game’s importance and intensity were erased when tempers flared between Maine’s Mark Flavin and NU’s Bennet Davis with 2:42 left in the game.
After Flavin was shoved to the floor, he got up and began shouting in Davis’ face. Davis shoved him back and the two pushed each other before they were separated. Each player was called for a foul on the contact and Flavin (21 points, eight rebounds) was also assessed a technical, which fouled him out of the game.
“That might have been the nail in the coffin,” Giannini said.
Although Davis hit only one of two free throws, the incident seemed to fire up the Huskies. They scored five straight points for a 6-0 run that all but iced the game for NU. After Davis’ foul shots, Barea stole the ball and scored on a layup to make it 91-83 NU.
Then, Davis blocked Joe Campbell’s shot, got the rebound, and scored from the right block off a bullet pass from Barea with 1:32 left.
Maine would score six points to stop the bleeding and make it 95-89 with a minute left, but it was as close as the Bears would get. The Huskies pulled the ball out, forced Maine to foul, and finished the game by canning their last six foul shots to fuel a 12-6 run.
Eric Dobson finished with 20 points and eight assists for the Bears while Kevin Reed had 16 points and six rebounds. South Portland’s Chris Markwood chipped in with 13 points and Udo Hadjisotirov added 10.
The Huskies edged Maine on the boards 35-34 overall and committed only 11 turnovers to Maine’s 20. Both teams shot very well as a whole – Maine at 51.6 percent and NU at 47.8 from the field.
Campbell provided instant offense and defense off the bench in his first game back since suffering a broken nose against New Hampshire Feb.11. The Bangor native finished with nine points, five rebounds, and a steal.
After a 20-point first half, Barea was held scoreless for the first 41/2 minutes of the second half. He finished with five assists, three steals, and seven points in the last seven minutes.
“I looked down at Jose at halftime and he’s got his head in the sink, tired as can be,” said NU coach Ron Everhart. “Then he comes out and has as good a half as he’s had all year. Assists, points, floor leadership … The whole deal.”
Everhart was equally proud of senior Sylbrin Robinson, who’s been in and out of the hospital the last two weeks with dehydration and extreme sickness.
“Syl hasn’t practiced with us at all. I didn’t know if he could even play,” said Everhart.
He did better than just play. The 6-foot-7 forward played 29 minutes and scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. If that wasn’t enough, he also led the team with nine rebounds.
“Should I have played? Probably not, but I just knew I had to be there for my teammates,” Robinson said. “I wasn’t going to miss this game.”
Robinson said he is suffering from some kind of inflammation of his colon as well as a possible ulcer.
HUSKIES 99, BLACK BEARS 89
Maine (17-9) Northeastern (18-10)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Dobson 7 12 5 5 20 Wilson 5 9 18
Petkus 0 1 0 0 0 Wright 1 2 2
Flavin 8 11 4 6 21 Dunn 0 2 1
Reed 6 15 0 0 16 Robinson 7 10 17
Markwood 5 7 1 2 13 Melvin 0 1 0
Hadjisotirov 4 7 0 0 10 Youmans 1 2 2
Dubois 0 2 0 0 0 Barnes 2 10 7
Campbell 2 7 5 5 9 Barea 10 22 32
Davis 6 9 4 17
Kelly 1 2 0 3
Totals 32 62 15 18 89 Totals 33 69 20 27 99
Maine 50 89
Northeastern 50 99
3-pt. goals ? Maine (10-25): Reed 4-11, Dobson 1-3, Flavin 1-1, Hadjisotirov 2-4, Markwood 2-3, Petkus 0-1, Campbell 0-2; Northeastern (13-30): Barea 7-11, Wilson 2-5, Barens 1-6, Davis 1-1, Kelly 1-2, Wright 0-1, Dunn 0-2, Kelly 1-2
Attendance: 1,099
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