BANGOR – The Hampden Academy boys basketball team has been in cruise mode for much of the season, enduring the challenges of all who seek to measure themselves against the reigning Class A state champs.

It was Bangor’s turn at Red Barry Gymnasium on Tuesday night, and while the Rams showed they have made progress since a 73-52 loss at Hampden on Dec. 13, the Broncos swept the regular-season series with a 43-33 victory.

“Tonight [Bangor] came out and played some hard ‘D,’ and in the first half we struggled offensively,” said Hampden point guard Daniel McCue. “In the second half we really stepped it up on the defensive end.”

That was most evident on the backboards, where Hampden outrebounded Bangor 17-10 after intermission and limited the Rams to just one offensive board after yielding six in a first half that ended with the Broncos rallying for a 19-18 lead.

“The difference in the game was as simple as rebounding,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett, whose team finished with a 27-20 edge on the boards. “In the first half we didn’t block out. We forced tough shots, but we gave them three or four opportunities. In the second half we owned the defensive glass and that made a difference because we only had to defend for three or four passes and then we forced tough shots and rebounded the ball.”

Bangor shot just 31 percent (13 of 41) from the field overall, and also hurt itself with a 40 percent (6 of 15) effort from the free-throw line.

Senior center Jordan Cook paced 13-2 Hampden with 15 points and five rebounds, while senior guard J Uhrin added 13 points and four steals. McCue scored nine points, while Evan Farley grabbed eight rebounds.

Junior guard Troy Jellison led 11-5 Bangor with 12 points, while junior forward Alex Gallant had seven points and eight rebounds.

Uhrin scored 10 points after intermission, including a baseline jumper that gave Hampden the lead for good at 21-20 with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

That started a 7-0 run for the Broncos, which held Bangor without a point for a 5:59 span and held the Rams to just four points in the period.

Uhrin took a perimeter steal in for a three-point play, and Sam Hodgdon hit a jumper from near the 3-point arc to stretch Hampden’s lead to 26-20 before Jellison finally countered with a layup off a feed from Scott Hackett.

Hampden took a 27-22 lead into the fourth quarter, and that margin grew to as much as eight points, initially at 31-23 on a fast-break layup by Daniel Schaeffer with 5:19 left.

The lead was still 36-29 when Cook fouled out with 1:07 to play. Jellison made the two free throws, and Gallant followed with a dunk off a Hampden turnover to pull Bangor within 36-33 with 57 seconds left.

But after McCue missed the front end of a two-shot foul six seconds later, he and Uhrin made seven straight from the line to thwart Bangor’s comeback ambitions.

“At the beginning of the season we were playing really well and everyone knew their roles,” Uhrin said. “Then we kind of hit a dead spot and had a couple of bad games that tested our psyche.

“Now I think we’re starting to peak at the right time. We’re playing together and we know what we’re supposed to do.”

BRONCOS 43, RAMS 33

Hampden Acad. (13-2) Bangor (11-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Uhrin 3 7 7 8 13 Jellison 5 12

Schaeffer 1 1 0 0 2 Clukey 0 0 0

Farley 0 0 0 0 0 McAllian 0 0

McCue 3 11 3 4 9 Zolper 1 6 2

Hodgdon 1 4 0 0 2 Suvlu 1 4 2

Silver 1 2 0 1 2 Gallant 3 10 7

Cook 7 13 1 2 15 Chase 0 0 0 0

Weston 1 6 3 5

Crews 0 0 0 0

Hackett 2 5 0 5

Totals 16 38 11 15 43 Totals 13 41 15 33

Hampden Acad. 7 19 27 43

Bangor 11 18 22 33

3-pt. goals – Hampden (0-9): Uhrin 0-2, Hodgdon 0-2, McCue 0-5; Bangor (1-7): Hackett 1-4, Suvlu 0-1, Zolper 0-2

JV: Bangor 61-50

Attendance: 600 (est.)