ORONO – The University of Maine-Farmington Beavers did a good job damming up the University of Maine’s offensive flow for much of the first half, but the Black Bears were able to stem the tide with their inside game.

The UMaine men used a dynamite shooting onslaught and a smothering defensive effort in the second half to turn a tight game into a runaway en route to a 90-53 victory in their first regular season home game at Alfond Arena.

Once UMaine’s Bears got their overall offensive game cranked up in the second half, they went on a 22-0 scoring run and broke the game wide open.

“I don’t think our defensive transition was that good in the first half. I thought they got a lot of open-court situations where we were scrambling to catch up,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward. Woodward specifically credited Ernest Turner’s defensive job on UMF catalyst and former Georges Valley High School star Travis Magnusson, who shot 3-for-10 for eight points and made just two assists.

“He beat us off the dribble in the first half and we did a much better job of containment on him and not allowing him to create for everyone else in the second half,” Woodward added.

After shooting 38.1 percent from the floor in the first half, the 6-4 Bears ramped it all the way up to 58.6 in the second for an overall 46.5 percent effort in the game. UMF shot 44.8 percent in the first half but only 35.6 for the game.

The Division I Bears outrebounded Div. III UMF 47-33 and committed a season-low 10 turnovers to UMF’s 17.

“I think in the second half, we were penetrating better and looking for other people, and we got better shots,” said Turner, who led the way for Maine with a career-high 22 points.

Five Maine players finished the game as double-digit scorers to make the sixth straight game that the Bears have had at least four accomplish the feat.

Kevin Reed tallied 18 points and seven rebounds while senior forward Mark Flavin continued his resurgent play in the paint with 15 points and 12 boards.

All Flavin’s points and 10 of his rebounds came in the first half. He also contributed four assists. It was his strong play in the first half that also helped Maine’s perimeter shooters as UMF defenders double- and triple-teamed Flavin early in the second half.

“I came out terribly at the start of the season. I just didn’t have any confidence,” Flavin said. “I don’t know what it was, but a couple personal things came into my life that made me think about things and so, to tell you the truth, when I go out there, I don’t think too much. I just go out and play hard and it’s all coming together.”

Olli Ahvenniemi came off the bench for 11 points and seven boards. The sophomore center from Finland scored all his points in the second half. Bangor’s Joe Campbell had 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Steve Ginn of Windham, a senior guard, and Travis Carrier of Auburn, a junior forward, led the 6-3 Beavers with 11 points each. The Beavers scored just 16 points in the second half.

“They kind of caught us by surprise and really got us in a funk because we didn’t expect them to be able to come and play at that pace in the first half,” said Woodward.

The Beavers gave the Black Bears all they could handle in the first half. Not only did they stick with the Bears, they passed them and built a nine-point lead with an 11-0 run midway through the half with a combination of solid perimeter shooting and heady inside play by Carrier and Bobby Deetjen.

Maine answered UMF’s run with an 11-2 one of their own. Only a pair of mini-runs late in the half allowed the Bears to build a cushion, and a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Turner left them with a nine-point halftime lead.

BLACK BEARS 90, BEAVERS 53

UM-Farmington (6-3) Maine (6-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Nielsen 2 3 1 2 5 Flavin 6 15 15

Deetjen 2 8 2 3 6 Campbell 5 10

Ginn 5 15 0 0 11 Turner 7 15 4 22

Magnusson 3 10 1 2 8 Reed 5 10 18

Teague 1 7 5 6 7 Markwood 3 8

Tracy 0 0 0 0 0 Bruff 0 3 0

St. John 0 0 0 0 0 Hight 1 1 2

Fry 2 2 0 0 5 Jackson 2 5 0 4

Drillen 0 2 0 0 0 Ahvenniemi 4 11

Hutchinson 0 2 0 0 0 Harknell 0 0

Susi 0 0 0 0 0

Carrier 5 7 1 2 11

McIver 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 56 10 15 53 33 71 15 21 90

UM-Farmington 37 53

Maine 46 90

3-pt. goals – UM-Farmington (3-15): Ginn 1-4, Magnusson 1-2, Fry 1-1, Deetjen 0-2, Drillen 0-2, Teague 0-4; Maine (9-24): Turner 4-8, Reed 3-7, Markwood 2-3, Bruff 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Harknell 0-1

Attendance: 1,536