Colonials finish strong, trip up Black Bears

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MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The University of Maine men stayed close to Robert Morris University all game long, but had their offense disappear in the final three minutes as the Colonials finished the game with a 9-0 run and a 62-53 basketball victory.

The Black Bears fall to 1-4 while Robert Morris improves to 2-2.

Junior college transfer guards Rashard Turner canned three 3-pointers and led the Bears with a game-high 23 points and five assists. He also grabbed five rebounds.

Unfortunately for Maine, no other Bear scored more than seven points.

Junior forward-center Olli Ahvenniemi blocked a career-high seven shots and scored six points, but managed just four rebounds. Senior guard-forward Freddy Petkus came off the bench to contribute seven points and a team-high seven boards.

Colonials 6-6 forward A.J. Jackson led the Colonials with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Tony Lee added 11 points and eight boards plus a game-high five steals. Jeremy Chappell had 13 points and six boards.

Maine outshot the Colonials 41.2 percent to 31.9 from the floor in the game, but Robert Morris outrebounded the Bears 45-36 overall (25-12 on the offensive boards) and outscored Maine 20-7 in second chance points.

The Colonials committed just eight turnovers in the game while Maine had 17.

Maine canned only 3 of 8 shots from the foul line while RMU hit 13 of 16.

The Bears were trailing 51-46 with 5:22 left in the game, but a Chris Bruff shot off the glass, an Ahvenniemi tip-in after a Colonials turnover, and a Rashard Turner 3-pointer after Jon Sheets stole a pass tied the game with 3:10 to go.

Maine started strong with a Sheets 3-pointer, but RMU used a 14-4 scoring run to go up 16-7 and never trailed again until the 11:20 mark of the second half, when Ernest Turner’s 3-pointer made it 39-38 Maine.

COLONIALS 62, BLACK BEARS 53

Maine (1-4) Robert Morris (2-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bruff 2 5 0 0 4 Jackson 6 20 18

Ahvenniemi 2 6 2 5 6 Harris 2 5 4

R. Turner 10 17 0 0 23 Coleman 1 6 3

E. Turner 2 8 0 0 5 Chappell 5 11 1 2 13

Sheets 2 8 0 0 6 Lee 4 12 11

Hight 0 0 0 1 0 Lancaster 1 3

Petkus 2 5 1 2 7 Clark 1 2 3

Scales 0 0 0 0 0 Boston 2 10 7

Cavanaugh 0 0 0 0 0

Bofia 1 2 0 0 2

Totals 21 51 3 8 53 Totals 22 69 13 16 62

Maine 21 53

Robert Morris 23 62

3-pt. goals – Maine (8-25): R. Turner 3-8, Petkus 2-4, Sheets 2-7, E. Turner 1-6; Robert Morris (5-17): Chappell 2-5, Clark 1-1, Boston 1-2, Lancaster 1-2, Jackson 0-1, Coleman 0-3, Lee 0-3

Attendance: 678

Bates 97, Thomas 68

At Lewiston, Bryan Wholey and Rob Stockwell each netted 17 points as the Bobcats rolled to the win.

Scott Place added 15 points and Zak Ray 14 for 3-1 Bates.

Ryan Conrad led all scorers with 20 points for the 0-1 Terriers of Waterville. James Godley added 12.

Women’s basketball

Colby 65, Maine Maritime 58

At Waterville, Tracy Nale scored 21 points and had five rebounds and three assists to lead Colby by Maine Maritime.

Katie McCabe added 12 points with eight boards for the Mules, while Kate Emery had 11 points. Colby hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 39 seconds to secure the victory.

Alyssa Burns scored a game-high 26 points, with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals for Maine Maritime. Julia Knights chipped in with 10 points.

Maine Maritime (2-1) 58

Burns 9-7-26, Gott 4-1-9, Knights 2-5-10, Leeman 1-2-5, Cloutier 3-0-6, Grant, Robitaille, Johnson, Moore

Colby (3-0) 65

Wohl 1-6-8, Nicholson 3-2-8, Emery 4-2-11, Nale 8-4-21, McCabe 4-4-12, Williamson 0-2-2, Rice 1-1-3, Duval, Williams, Davis

3-pt. goals: Burns, Knights, Leeman; Emery, Nale

Halftime: Colby 28-20