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ORONO – The University of Maine men’s basketball team was ice cold for the first 12:12 of their Tuesday night home opener against the University of Maine at Fort Kent, connecting on just four of 21 from the floor.
Despite scoring only 14 points during that span, the Division I Black Bears held the Division III Bengals to five points on 2-for-19 shooting, then found their offensive rhythm to outscore UMFK 30-7 over the remainder of the half en route to an 86-36 victory at Alfond Arena.
Fueled by its tenacious man-to-man and a full-court press, Maine (1-2) jumpstarted its running game and wound up scoring some easy transition baskets while going 11-for-16 from the floor over the final 7:48 to take a 44-12 lead at halftime.
Senior guard Ernest Turner, fresh off being named to the all-tournament team at the William and Mary Tip-Off Classic, had 15 of his game-high 26 points and all six of his rebounds in the first half.
“We just wanted to be aggressive and do what we do: play defense, get good looks, and just have fun out there,” said Turner. “Some nights, you aren’t going to hit your shots so defense has to help you win games. We played hard on defense tonight and got some easy shots.”
Chris Bruff finished with 11 points and Jon Sheets contributed nine, including eight in the first half. Freddy Petkus had eight points and he and Sheets each had three steals.
Rashard Turner chipped in with seven points, a game-high six assists, and four steals.
Jason Hight and Christian Cavanaugh combined for 15 points, and Hight dished out four assists.
“They played great defense,” said UMFK guard Rytis Kriunas, who had a team-high 14 points and four steals. Edmundas Akstinas contributed seven points for the Bengals.
Kriunas added that Maine’s superior depth keyed their decisive late first-half run.
“They have all 12 players and we have only eight or nine and they play ‘D’ on us really hard. We got tired,” said Kriunas.
Akstinas said Maine was “very well organized and were really good at executing their team play.”
The much taller Bears outrebounded UMFK 62-21.
Olli Ahvenniemi and Bruff led the Bears with nine rebounds apiece. David Russo’s five rebounds led UMFK (2-4). Ahvenniemi had four blocked shots.
UM-Fort Kent went 5-for-30 from the floor in the first half and turned the ball over 15 times.
With Maine holding a 14-5 lead, a Dominique Scales free throw started a run of 13 straight points that triggered the decisive 30-7 spree.
Turner hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then took a Rashard Turner pass off a Freddy Petkus steal and laid it in.
Petkus made another steal and wound up finishing off the play with a 3 from the top of the key.
An Ernest Turner steal and dunk and a Rashard Turner capped the flurry to make it 27-5.
UMFK could get no closer than 21 the rest of the way.
“It feels good to win,” said Petkus. “It was great to see the guys play together on defense and on offense.”
Ernest Turner’s 26 points came on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor including a 3-for-4 night from beyond the 3-point arc.
“I’m trying to be aggressive and trying to pick up the slack. I just want to help the team,” said Turner, referring to the loss of injured guards Kevin Reed, the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals, and freshman guard Junior Bernal.
“Ernest is a great player. We just have to get him the ball in his spot,” said Petkus.
Maine coach Ted Woodward was happy with the win.
“We really wanted to start focusing on defense first,” said Woodward. “We just locked people down. That’s the one thing you can control is your effort. I was pleased in that I thought we had a lot of guys who played defense for 40 minutes. A few others for 30, so we’re not completely satisfied. But we felt like we took a step in that direction.”
He said defense was the key late in the first half.
“Any time you’re able to play good defense and get in the open court a little bit, the ball starts moving around a little bit better and your shots get into better rhythm,” said Woodward.
BLACK BEARS 86, BENGALS 36
UM-Fort Kent (2-4) Maine (1-2)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Akstinas 3 9 1 2 7 Petkus 3 6 8
Russo 1 8 2 4 4 Ahvenniemi 2 7
Allen 0 4 0 0 0 R. Turner 2 7
Kriunas 5 12 3 4 14 E. Turner 10 16 3 5 26
Parker 1 5 0 0 2 Sheets 2 7 9
Bassue 0 0 0 0 0 Keith 0 2 0
Myers 1 4 2 2 4 Bruff 5 8 11
Russo 1 10 1 2 3 Hight 1 5 3
Bard 1 3 0 0 2 Scales 1 3 3 5
Cavanaugh 1 5 2
Tokn-Bofia 1 2 2
Harknell 2 6 6
Totals 13 55 9 14 36 Totals 30 72 15 25 86
UMaine-Fort Kent 12 36
Maine 44 86
3-pt. goals – UMFK (1-14): Kriunas 1-2, Akstinas 0-2, Allen 0-2, Russo 0-2, Parker 0-1, Myers 0-3, Bard 0-2; Maine (11-25): Petkus 2-5, R. Turner 2-4, E. Turner 3-4, Sheets 2-5, Harknell 2-3, High 0-2, Keith 0-2
Attendance: 1,056
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