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ORONO – Defense, ball control, and foul shooting proved to be the difference in a men’s basketball game with a lot more ebb than flow at Alfond Arena Wednesday night.
Boston University’s Terriers had a countermove almost every time the University of Maine made a move and frustrated the Bears’ offense throughout the game en route to a 52-43 victory – their eighth straight over the Black Bears.
Boston University hit 11 of 13 foul shots in the last 111/2 minutes of the second half and eight of 10 in the final two to notch their ninth win in the last 10 meetings with Maine, which dropped to 10-10 overall, 5-6 in America East conference play.
“We’re fortunate to get out of here with a win,” said BU coach Dennis Wolff, whose Terriers are now 15-5 on the season (9-2 in AE). “Both teams were struggling to get any rhythm at all in the game, and we got some rhythm in the second half.”
The Terriers and Bears kept trading defensive body blows until late in the second half, when the Terriers were able to fashion an 11-2 scoring run that turned a 31-29 Maine lead with 10:40 to play into a 40-33 BU lead with 4:50 to play. It was the largest lead by either team to that point.
Sophomore forward Etienne Brower scored six of his 19 points during BU’s game-defining run and also chipped in with six rebounds.
“As we were shutting down their big guys, Brower stepped up and he made the difference for them late,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward.
Maine chipped away and a spinning move from the left block by Campbell made it 42-37 BU with 3:49 left, but the Terriers stayed calm, worked the shot clock and forced the Bears to foul in the final three minutes. As a result, BU’s lead never dipped below five the rest of the way.
This was not a game for leading scorers. BU’s top two scoring options (Rashad Bell and Chaz Carr) and Maine’s (guards Ernest Turner and Kevin Reed) were held scoreless in the first half.
Carr rebounded with 10 in the second and Bell chipped in six, while Turner was kept scoreless and Reed managed only six points. Turner played just three of his 16 minutes in the second half and left the game with an apparent lower leg or ankle injury with nine minutes left.
“You have to give them credit. They don’t turn you over, but they are so good in position that every shot is a real struggle,” said Woodward. “That’s what they do.”
Maine shot 31.8 percent from the field for the game – 10.5 percent points below its season average – while BU shot 47.4 in the second half to finish at 35.4.
“Credit their defense for doing what they did, but we also missed some open looks we should have made,” said Maine point guard Chris Markwood of South Portland. “Stops and scores, stops and scores, that’s what they got when they needed them and that’s why they won.”
Senior forward Mark Flavin was Maine’s lone double-digit scorer in a scoring-challenged game as he finished with 19 points – 13 in the first half – but was held to four rebounds. Bangor’s Joe Campbell had eight points and was human flypaper around the boards, especially in the first half when he picked off 10 of his 13 boards.
“They were a lot more physical with me and pushing me off the block more in the second half,” Flavin said.
TERRIERS 52, BLACK BEARS 43
Boston University (15-5) Maine (10-10)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Bell 1 5 4 4 6 Flavin 7 14 5 19
Brower 7 12 4 6 19 Campbell 2 8
Gardner 2 6 2 3 6 Turner 0 3 0
Wynn 1 3 2 2 4 Reed 1 8 3 6
Carr 3 8 3 4 10 Markwood 2 9 4
Wolff 1 6 0 0 3 Bruff 0 1 0
Geffen 0 2 0 0 0 Hight 1 2 3
Gaffney 1 5 0 0 2 Dubois 1 1 3
Peterkin 1 1 0 0 2
Totals 17 48 15 19 52 14 44 12 15 43
Boston University 20 52
Maine 18 43
3-pt. goals – Boston University (3-15): Browner 1-4, Carr 1-4, Wolff 1-4, Geffen 0-1, Gaffney 0-1, Wynn 0-1; Maine (3-17): Hight 1-1, Campbell 1-2, Reed 1-5, Markwood 0-4, Flavin 0-3, Turner 0-2
Attendance: 1,621
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