Statistics don’t always provide an accurate picture of what happened during a football game.

Such was the case Saturday for the University of Maine, which rallied to beat Richmond 29-25 despite another unspectacular performance.

Coach Jack Cosgrove’s 12th-ranked Black Bears, now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Atlantic 10, still found a way to win.

“We’re just fortunate to be able to say that we were able to make enough plays and persevere and play the thing out for 60 minutes to get a win this past weekend,” Cosgrove said Monday.

Richmond appeared to have the numbers to emerge with a win. The Spiders ran 79 offensive plays to 58 for UMaine, outgaining the Bears 421 yards to 235 while controlling the ball for 37 minutes, eight seconds.

“It was one of those situations where we won the battle of the statistics and they won the battle on the scoreboard,” said Richmond coach Dave Clawson.

UMaine’s defense has been severely taxed the past two weeks. It has been on the field for an average of 83 plays and 35 minutes per game while allowing 34 points and 491 yards per contest.

The Bears’ opponents also have been able to pull out to early leads in both games.

“Teams have come out and been very aggressive with us, gotten a jump on us,” Cosgrove said.

Against Richmond, UMaine came up with clutch interceptions by Jermaine Walker (in the end zone), Brandon McGowan and Daren Stone. Two of them halted serious scoring threats.

The Bears offense also has been sporadic, struggling early in the last two contests.

UMaine has averaged 34 points, but has run only 64 plays per game while netting only 316 yards per outing, a yard less than opponents’ average for passing yards alone.

“I don’t know that we’ve been in synch offensively the last couple weeks at the start of the football game, for sure,” Cosgrove said.

“We had the ball for 23 minutes Saturday, they had it for 37,” he added. “When you don’t have the football, you don’t have the chance to get into any kind of a rhythm and that’s really been a problem for us the last two weeks.”

Along with the takeaways, the Bears also have continued to exhibit improved special teams play. Sophomore Arel Gordon energized the team Saturday with his 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half.

Gordon netted 134 yards on three returns against the Spiders, while senior punter Mike Mellow continued his outstanding play by averaging 47.3 yards on three kicks, including a 63-yard bomb to the Richmond 16 that helped put UMaine in position for its go-ahead score in the third quarter.

“It was just a matter of making some costly turnovers and Maine really won the special teams battle,” Clawson said.

More needed from Maine’s best

If the University of Maine’s hockey team is going to make another run at a national championship, it’s top players will have to put forth a better effort than they did in the two losses to North Dakota this past weekend, according to fourth-year coach Tim Whitehead.

“Our top players were outplayed by their top players,” said Whitehead who had directed two of his three Maine teams into the NCAA final. “More specifically, our top players didn’t leave it all out on the ice. They didn’t play with the type of heart and intensity we’re accustomed to seeing them play with. Our key players didn’t take the hits or exert the energy necessary to win hockey games against elite teams like North Dakota.

“On the positive side, we played one of the best teams in the country and were in both games despite not playing our best. And we got extremely good efforts from our so-called role players like Brent Shepheard and Travis Wight,” Whitehead added.

He said the line of seniors Ben Murphy and John Ronan along with sophomore Josh Soares has been the team’s best from the get-go.

“They play with all their heart and soul,” said Whitehead.

The Maine players concurred with Whitehead’s assessment that a better effort will be required beginning with this weekend’s series against Niagara University (N.Y.), the College Hockey American tourney champ and an NCAA Tournament participant a year ago.

Junior right wing Greg Moore pointed at himself as being one of those players who need to step up.

“Guys like me, who are in the lineup every day, can’t take things for granted. Guys like Brent Shepheard, Travis Wight and [freshman defenseman] Bret Tyler came in and left everything on the ice. I know the red line [Murphy, Ronan, Soares] busted their butts. They know the pride of playing for this team. We’ve got to get the whole team on the same page,” said Moore.

Senior defenseman Mat Deschamps said the team has to “work hard and make sure we stick to the game plan. We’re a young team and there are a lot of things we need to learn how to do better like blocking shots.”

Deschamps, who took three consecutive holding penalties spanning the first and second periods, said he and his mates must adjust to the different style of play created by the emphasis on eliminating the clutching, grabbing, impeding and illegal stick checks.