Bruff, Socoby spark Maine Bears tip SBU, get No. 4 seed

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ORONO – University of Maine men’s basketball coach Ted Woodward issued a challenge to his team during halftime of Sunday afternoon’s regular-season finale: Rebound from a sub-par first half and, above all, take care of the ball.

The Black Bears, who turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, responded to that challenge in a big way by committing only one the rest of the game.

Maine also improved its defensive play and kept Stony Brook University scoreless for nearly four minutes while going on an 18-2 run that would propel the Bears to a 63-61 America East victory at Alfond Arena.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bears (12-17, 7-9 AE) and secured the fourth seed in next week’s AE tournament. The Bears take on No. 5 University of Maryland Baltimore County in a 2:30 p.m. game Saturday at Agganis Arena in Boston.

The Seawolves (9-19) are seeded ninth and play No. 8 New Hampshire in a Friday preliminary game.

Four Maine players scored in double digits, but it was the second-half play of two in particular that helped turn the game’s tide.

Former Bangor and Houlton High star Mark Socoby scored 10 of his 13 points during 14 minutes in the second half.

“That’s something we need and having Phil [Tchekane Bofia] and Chris [Bruff] score inside really gives us good balance,” Woodward said.

“I think that’s a huge change for [Socoby] from the first half to the second half,” he added. “I was glad he was looking for a shot a lot more in the second half because I thought he passed up a couple in the first half.”

Sophomore forward Tchekane Bofia (10 points) dished out three of his career-best four assists in the second half.

“Socoby making some jump shots made a difference, but Bofia was the guy who got them some easy buckets and was a presence in the post, blocking some shots,” said SBU coach Steve Pikiell. “He really stood out as a problem for us in the second half.”

So did senior forward Bruff , who scored 14 of his 19 points and grabbed four of his six rebounds in the second half. Bruff summed up the difference between the first and second halves simply.

“We just talked. It’s amazing how communication actually works,” said Bruff, a communications major.

Bruff scored seven of the 18 points in the critical run and helped Maine stave off a late SBU rally by hitting a tough hook shot from the right block and putting Maine up 62-58 with 1:13 to play. Socoby grabbed a big rebound after a missed 3-pointer by SBU’s Mitchell Beauford with 53 seconds left and hit one of two free throws.

“I’m not too accustomed to missing free throws. I practice that a lot, so when it bounced off, I was a little upset,” said Socoby.

A three-point play by Beauford (16 points) made it 63-61 with 42 seconds left, and Bruff missed a shot from the left wing with four seconds left, but a half-court heave at the buzzer by Ricky Lucas (21 points) failed to fall in despite hitting the back of the rim and bouncing up.

Senior guard Kevin Reed contributed 12 points and six rebounds. He also became the UMaine men’s career leader in games played with 118.

Mike Popoko chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Seawolves.

BLACK BEARS 79, RETRIEVERS 72

UMBC (13-15) Maine (13-12)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rohde 5 10 9 10 19 Hgstd-Va 4 10 3 4 11

Robinson 3 6 0 0 6 Whittier 2 6

Hughes 3 10 4 4 10 Barker 6 10 10 24

Drabyn 5 14 1 1 14 Underwd 5 9 10 11 23

Hatten 3 4 0 1 7 Greene 2 6 6

Hunt 1 1 0 0 2 Younan 1 3 0 3

Cassidy 2 8 0 0 6 Tewksbry 2 6

Butler 2 2 0 0 4 Baker 0 0 0

Luttrell 2 4 0 0 4 Boser 0 0 0

Book 0 0 0 0 0 Kilmurray 0 0 0

Vaitkute 0 0 0

Totals 26 59 14 16 72 Totals 22 48 26 29 79

UMBC 22 72

Maine 36 79

3-pt. goals – UMBC (6-22): Rohde 0-1, Hughes 0-3, Drabyn 3-10, Hatten 1-1, Cassidy 2-6, Luttrell 0-1; Maine (9-20): Barker 3-5, Underwood 3-7, Greene 2-6, Younan 1-2

Attendance: 2,020