Bears crush Capers Energy, balance mark UM’s play

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ORONO – It’s only the first game of the season, and a preseason exhibition game at that, but something seems to be different with this University of Maine men’s basketball team.

The Black Bears debuted an exciting brand of basketball by using balanced scoring, high-energy man-to-man defense, and active offense to hand Cape Breton University of Sydney, Nova Scotia, its first loss of the season, 92-61, at Alfond Arena Thursday night.

“We’re a lot different than we were last year,” said Maine head coach Ted Woodward. “We lost a lot of big guys and had a point guard who did a lot of great things who was 6-[foot-]5. This year we have a lot of quickness and less size in our backcourt.”

That’s not where the differences end.

“Right from the first day, our locker room has had a great feel to it,” Woodward added. “We have a lot of winners on this team and we haven’t even had one bad practice this season.”

They haven’t had a bad game yet either. All but one of the 14 players who logged game time Thursday night scored at least two points, four finished in double digits, and everyone played solid defense.

“We were having fun,” said senior guard Ernest Turner, who had 11 points in the first half en route to 16. “We have good guards who can penetrate and kick out and hit 3s, and we have big men who can rebound and get buckets, so we’re just playing good basketball.”

Jim Charters, coach of the 9-0 Capers, said Maine presented several challenges.

“Their size is really bothersome. It’s by far the biggest team we’ve played this season,” he explained. “We were getting to the rim at times, but we weren’t able to finish the plays and it affected our shots.

“They don’t drop much talent-wise when they go to the bench either. I’m pretty impressed with what I saw tonight, and that was with one of their best players on the bench.”

That would be senior guard Kevin Reed, who is out for at least a month with an undisclosed left foot injury which requires him to use crutches.

Maine shot an impressive 57.9 percent from the field and 73.9 percent from the line for the game. The Bears also outrebounded a tall Capers team 33-32 despite graduating all their frontcourt starters from last season.

Even turnovers, one of the recurring sore points for Maine last season, favored the Bears as they committed 14 to CBU’s 21.

“They executed very well, especially for their first game out,” said Charters. “I didn’t see any sign of selfish play from them, but I saw too much from us. We got into a little one-on-one play as opposed to playing team ball. When we did, that fed their offensive transition game.”

Junior college transfer Rashard Turner thrived in the open court and on the break. The fleet point guard scored 13 points while dishing out four assists and making two steals.

“We like to be unselfish and share the ball. That’s the way we practice,” Turner said. “I feel comfortable, but there are still some things I need to work on.”

Westbrook native Jason Hight dished out a game-high five assists and sophomore Christian Cavanaugh of Marin County, Calif., had a game-high seven rebounds to go with his 11 points off the bench.

Freshman forward Phil Tchekane Bofia also turned heads with his solid inside play. The Cameroon product had 15 points and five rebounds.

Junior forward-center Olli Ahvenniemi led Maine with a game-high five blocked shots and five boards.

Paul Blake led the Capers with 18 points and six rebounds. Eric Breland scored 12.

BLACK BEARS 92, CAPERS 61

Cape Breton Maine men

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Breland 4 16 4 4 12 Petkus 2 5 6

Blake 6 13 2 3 18 Ahvenniemi 1 2

Timmons 2 4 4 5 8 R.Turner 4 13

Keliher 2 4 0 0 6 E.Turner 7 16

Hargrove 2 6 1 2 5 Sheets 1 7 3

White 1 4 2 2 4 Keith 0 0 0

McKoy 2 4 0 1 4 Bruff 3 4 9

McGarrigle 0 0 0 0 0 Hight 2 4 5

MacQueen 0 1 0 1 0 Scales 2 4 5

Liverpool 1 2 2 4 4 Hartnett 1 4

Cavanaugh 4 5 11

Bofia 5 7 4 15

Harknell 1 1 3

Totals 20 54 15 22 61 Totals 33 57 17 23 92

Cape Breton 29 61

Maine 45 92

3-pt. goals – Cape Breton (6-15): Blake 4-7, Keliher 2-2, Breland 0-1, McKoy 0-1, MacQueen 0-1, Liverpool 0-1, Hargrove 0-2; Maine (9-20): Petkus 2-5, Bruff 1-1, E. Turner 1-1, Harknell 1-1, Bofia 1-1, Hight 1-2, R. Turner 1-2, Sheets 1-6, Hartnett 0-1