PORTLAND – It’s too early for March Madness, but Monday’s men’s basketball game between the University of Maine and Bethune-Cookman College had all the trappings of it, especially the ending.

Diondre Larmond’s 3-point shot from the right wing at the buzzer turned what looked like a dramatic Maine comeback win into a stunning 68-67 loss at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The senior forward from Miami, Fla., finished with a game-high 20 points and grabbed five rebounds – all in the second half – to propel the Wildcats to an electric season-opening win.

“I wanted him to take the 3,” said Wildcats coach Clifford Reed. “On the road, I’d rather take my chances, especially since we were down a guard and Larmond’s been a starter for us the last three years. Win or lose, you’ve got to take a chance.”

With four seconds left, Larmond gathered a high lob pass from half-court by Kory Crumbly on the inbounds play, dribbled once to create a little shooting space, and then let fly the game-winning shot.

“He (UM guard Kevin Reed) played really good defense, so I took a dribble to separate, but I had to throw the shot up,” said Larmond. “If I’d had enough time to think about it, I probably wouldn’t have taken it.”

The loss kept Maine winless at 0-2 and obscured a whirlwind comeback effort by the Black Bears which turned a 53-46 B-C lead with 81/2 minutes to play into a 62-58 Maine lead with five minutes left.

Maine took made three steals and forced four B-C turnovers during the late 16-5 run.

“We did a great job in the second half with our defense, but I was disappointed we didn’t do it for 40 minutes,” said Bears coach Ted Woodward. “We did not play the defense we’re accustomed to playing in the first half. Our pressure on the ball was nowhere near what it usually is and what it became in the second half.”

Maine got a balanced, all-around effort with contributions all over the starting lineup and off the bench. Ernest Turner led the scoring with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half. The junior guard also had a game-high five assists.

Joe Campbell had a great all-around effort with 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block. Mark Flavin finished with 10 points and seven boards while Reed scored nine, but only one point came in the second half.

“We made some big plays down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough because we dug ourselves too big a hole in the first half,” said Campbell.

Maine committed 12 turnovers to B-C’s eight in the first half, and its frontcourt had a tough first half as Flavin, David Dubois and Olli Ahvenniemi had just six points and two rebounds between them. Those numbers improved to eight points and eight boards in the second half.

The Bears shot well from the line, canning 11 of 14 for the game, but it was one miss in particular that hurt as Turner missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 4:02 left.

“It’s frustrating because we’ve played well enough to win both games, but we had some breakdowns defensively and we haven’t had any rhythm defensively for the whole game, just in spots,” said Dubois.

WILDCATS 68, BLACK BEARS 67

Bethune-Cookman (1-0) Maine (0-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Clayton 3 8 1 2 7 Flavin 4 9 10

Larmond 8 14 3 4 20 Campbell 4 11

Webb 4 10 0 0 10 Turner 5 16 4 16

Carter 0 4 0 0 0 Reed 3 8 9

Williams 2 4 4 5 8 Markwood 2 4

Crumbly 4 5 1 1 10 Bruff 3 3 6

Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 Jackson 3 6 7

Burris 4 9 2 2 12 Dubois 1 1 2

Berry 0 0 1 2 1 Ahvenniemi 0 2

Totals 25 54 12 16 68 Totals 25 54 11 14 67

Bethune-Cookman 36 68

Maine 31 67

3-pt. goals – Bethune-Cookman (6-17): Larmond 1-7, Webb 2-5, O’Neal 0-1, Crumbly 1-2, Burris 2-2; Maine (6-15): Campbell 1-1, Turner 2-4, Reed 2-6, Markwood 0-1, Jackson 1-3

Attendance: 953