December 25, 2024
Sports

Men’s basketball

MAINE vs. COLLEGE OF ST. JOSEPH

Time, site: Wednesday, 6 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono

Records: Maine 1-3, St. Joseph 2-2

Series, last meeting: First meeting

Key players: Maine – 6-3 G Kevin Reed (12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg), 6-5 G Junior Bernal (11.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.5 apg), 6-6 F Phillipe Tchekane Bofia (11.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg), 6-1 G Jon Sheets (10.8 ppg, 4.5 apg), 6-10 C Olli Ahvenniemi (2.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Chris Bruff (5.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Mark Socoby (8.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg); St. Joseph – 5-9 G Rich Bailey (3.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg), 5-10 F Ruben Brown (13.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.7 apg), 6-2 C Richard Ortega (18.5 ppg, 15.5 rpg), 5-10 G Ryan Kimball (7.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.7 apg), 6-5 F Tyler Herrington (10.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 4.0 spg)

Outlook: The Black Bears return from a four-game road trip for their home opener against the Saints, an NAIA Division II school in the Sunrise Conference. St. Joseph doesn’t have a lot of height, but the Bears are wary of an upset a la NCAA Div. II Franklin Pierce’s win over New Hampshire last week. St. Joseph plays man-to-man defense but will likely try different sets against Maine. Reed is still experiencing some soreness after suffering a leg injury earlier this season but scored a season-high 30 points in Maine’s 79-60 win over St. Francis Sunday. Ortega, a returning first-team all-conference player last year, played at Hyde of Bath. CSJ coach Jim Graffam, a Waldoboro native, is a former coach and athletic director at UM-Fort Kent and Westbrook College.


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