ORONO – The 2006-07 edition of the University of Maine men’s basketball team finally got a chance to cut its teeth against some outside competition Wednesday night.

What looked like a heartburn-inducing game early turned into a palatable preseason performance for UMaine head coach Ted Woodward and his squad as the Black Bears defeated the University of Quebec at Montreal 75-65 at Alfond Arena.

Freshman guard Junior Bernal led the way for the Bears with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field to go with a game-high four steals, and senior guard Chris Bruff came off the bench to contribute 16 points, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.

The Bears trailed for much of the first half – by as many as nine points – but began to carve out a slight lead down the stretch thanks to a half-ending 9-1 run that turned a tie game into a 37-29 halftime lead.

Maine seized control of the momentum and the tempo by extending its run beyond halftime. After Maine center Olli Ahvenniemi (10 points, three blocks) scored from the left block on a precise pass from Bernal, Bernal started beating UQAM all by himself.

The Manhattan, N.Y., native and former Maine Central Institute postgrad star scored 13 straight points and outscored Quebec 13-6 during a 4-minute, 13-second span to turn a 39-31 Bears lead into 52-37.

“Coach tells me to use my height to an advantage, and I thought I had great opportunities to get it down low and score,” said the 6-foot-5 Bernal. “I just used some post-up moves and you don’t see that much from a guard, but my teammates are used to it.”

Bernal, who scored two straight hoops off his own steals, scored 15 of Maine’s first 19 points in the opening seven minutes of the second half.

“He’s a good, versatile player who knows how to score inside and outside,” said Woodward. “He was able to get where he needed to be to go to the basket, and he created his own offense off defensive situations.”

Maine also got solid efforts out of Bruff and freshman Mark Socoby from Houlton. Socoby came off the bench to have 10 points, four rebounds, three steals, and three assists.

“I thought he and Chris Bruff, Chris in particular, were the ones who really gave us a shot in the arm tonight,” said Woodward.

The Citadins started bombing away from 3-point range successfully with a little less than 10 minutes left, went on an 18-2 run, and eventually shrank the deficit from 23 points to four with 1:49 left, but it wasn’t enough as Maine scored nine of the game’s final 12 points.

Senior forward Kevin Boucher had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Citadins. Bruno Visotzky-Bernier added 15 points and seven boards.

Bears guard and co-captain Kevin Reed was 0-for-4 from 3-point range with only six points, but he also had five boards and four of the 16 Maine steals that led to 25 Citadins turnovers.

“I’m just trying to get back in my rhythm,” said the senior sharpshooter. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been out here shooting, but eventually they’ll fall.”

BLACK BEARS 75, QUE.-MONTREAL 65

Quebec-Montreal Maine

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Joseph 3 6 0 0 9 Tch-Bofia 2 6

Boucher 6 11 5 7 20 Ahvennmi 5 10

Debrosse 3 9 0 0 7 Sheets 2 9 5

Visotzky 4 16 4 5 15 Bernal 8 13 17

Beauchmp 2 11 2 2 6 Reed 2 10 6

Daoust 1 2 2 2 4 Bruff 7 12 16

Black 0 2 0 0 0 Socoby 2 4 10

Plesius 0 2 0 0 0 Hartnett 0 1

Lucky 0 0 0 0 0 Costigan 0 0

Limido 2 2 0 0 4 Cook 0 4 0

Cavanugh 2 3 4

Totals 21 61 13 16 65 30 70 13 17 75

Quebec-Montreal 29 65

Maine 37 75

3-pt. goals – Quebec-Montreal (10-26): Joseph 3-5, Boucher 3-5, Debrosse 1-3, Visotzky-Bernier 3-9, Beauchamp 0-3, Black 0-1; Maine (2-16): Tchekane-Bofia 0-1, Sheets 1-7, Socoby 1-1, Costigan 0-2, Cavanaugh 0-1, Reed 0-4

Attendance: 1,065