ORONO – The NCAA Division III University of Maine-Farmington Beavers arrived at Memorial Gymnasium wanting a taste of Division I men’s basketball. They left with a case of heartburn.

The UMaine men were hospitable hosts early in the first half Thursday night, watching the UMF Beavers score 11 unanswered points and take an 11-5 lead, but then the Black Bears decided the Beavers had worn out their welcome.

Maine held the Beavers scoreless for 9 1/2 minutes, scored 12 straight baskets, went on a 27-0 run to take a 32-11 lead, and never looked back en route to a 75-34 victory.

After starting out in man-to-man defense, Maine switched to a 3-2 zone following head coach Ted Woodward’s timeout 2 1/2 minutes into the game. From then on, the Bears harassed the Beavers into making 16 turnovers.

“I don’t know how much we talked other than to give them a little bit of a wakeup call,” Woodward said about his timeout. “I didn’t think we were being as disciplined as I expected us to be to start a game, but our guys responded well.”

That they did. Maine turned things around with its 3-2 zone, press and half-court traps, making 15 steals and scoring 23 points off UMF’s 17 first half turnovers.

Maine’s defense also cranked up its transition game and foiled UMF’s, giving the Bears a 10-0 edge in fast-break points. In addition, Maine dominated in the paint with 28 points to UMF’s four.

“Our offense comes from our defense and we were able to try more things, experimenting with the 3-2 press and traps,” said freshman guard Mark Socoby of Houlton. “We got a lot of steals and easy baskets out of that.”

The 4-4 Beavers cut down on the turnovers in the second half, finishing with 21 total. The Bears, now 5-5 this season, took good care of the ball, committing nine overall.

Maine’s defensive pressure manifested itself in other ways, from UMF’s shooting percentage from the field (23.2) to Maine’s largest lead (44 points with 3:14 to play).

The Bears, meanwhile, shot 48.6 percent in the first half and 42.6 overall; dominated the paint with 44 points to UMF’s 10, and saw their bench outscore UMF’s 23 to 3.

Still, Woodward was impressed with the Beavers effort.

“Those kids came out of the gate and did a great job against our man-to-man. They weren’t flustered at all,” he said. “They’re good, tough kids who make you work for everything you get.”

Junior Bernal, a former Maine Central Institute postgraduate player, led the Bears with 14 points in 21 minutes. Senior co-captain and fellow guard Kevin Reed had 13 points.

Senior forward Chris Bruff had 10 points and five rebounds, but senior guard Jon Sheets turned in the best all-around effort with nine points, six boards, five steals and five assists.

The Bears used 11 different players in the game as Woodward put different combinations on the court.

“It was a chance for some of us to get some more minutes and work on some things within the team concept,” said freshman Jordan Cook (three points, five boards) of Hampden. “I was trying to be a little more aggressive than I usually would be.

Socoby even played a little point guard.

“Playing point guard and trying to run the offense was great, but it’s tough. I was exhausted,” he said with a smile.

Junior guard Isaac Hutchinson of Oakland led UMF with 13 points and also had six rebounds. Josh Tanguay, a freshman forward from Gorham, had seven points and 11 boards.

BLACK BEARS 75, BEAVERS 34

UM-Farmington (4-4) Maine (5-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Fry 1 9 1 3 4 Bruff 5 8 0 10

Tanguay 3 6 1 2 7 Bofia 3 7 6

Tracy 0 2 0 0 0 Sheets 3 6 9

St. John 2 10 1 2 7 Bernal 6 11 14

Hutchinson 6 19 0 0 13 Reed 5 13 13

Boynton 0 0 0 0 0 Keith 0 1 0

Lelansky 1 5 0 0 3 Socoby 2 9 6

Kerschner 0 1 0 0 0 Hartnett 1 3

Nichols 0 0 0 0 0 Cook 1 2 3

Turner 0 0 0 0 0 Ahvniemi 2 7

Neil 0 4 0 0 0 Cavnaugh 1 2 4

Totals 13 56 3 7 34 Totals 29 68 12 16 75

UM-Farmington 18 34

Maine 47 75

3-pt. goals – UMF (5-24): Fry 1-5, Tracy 0-1, St. John 2-8, Hutchinson 1-3, Lelansky 1-5, Neil 0-2; Maine (5-23): Bruff 0-1, Bofia 0-1, Sheets 2-5, Reed 2-7, Socoby 0-5, Hartnett 1-3, Cavanaugh 0-1

Attendance: 1,453