Maine men hosting five non-conference games

It wasn’t much fun last season, but playing most of their non-conference games on the road will pay off this winter for the University of Maine Black Bears.

The men’s basketball team is still waiting for its entire 2007-08 scheduled to be finalized, but the ink is dry on the non-conference portion of it and the Bears will get to enjoy more home cooking this season.

After playing just two nonconference home games last season, the Bears will host five non-conference opponents this time around.

“Four Saturday home games is very big for us,” said head coach Ted Woodward. “It’s a great day of the week to get a lot of fans in and see the team. I think it could really gives us a home-court advantage.”

Those five home games are Nov. 13 against NAIA member Fisher College of Boston; Nov. 17 against Saint Francis College of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Northeastern University of Boston on Nov. 24; New Jersey Institute of Technology on Dec. 1, and Mount St. Mary’s University of Emmitsburg, Md., on Dec. 15.

Last season, Maine had 11 home games and 19 away from home – on opposing or neutral courts. This year, the Bears have 13 and 16, respectively, while still improving – at least on paper – the strength of their schedule.

“I think we have a very solid schedule this year, especially when you consider the away games we have against teams like Providence, Florida State University and Connecticut,” Woodward said.

Maine also has a chance to play the University of Memphis, the potential preseason No. 1-ranked team in the country, which is hosting the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic that Maine is playing in Nov. 5-6 in Memphis, Tenn.

Maine is on the road vs. Quinnipiac University (Nov. 20), Canisius College (Dec. 31), and Colgate University (Jan. 2).

Although his squad is younger and shorter on experience, Woodward is excited about the season and the potential of this team, which features eight Maine natives and nine players with Maine roots.

“I never want to look at it as a rebuilding or reloading season,” he said. “We have a lot of pillars in place, but even with only two returning starters, I really believe they’ll have a chance to do some good things in the early going and the long term.

“And the goal is the same. We’re still looking to win the conference title.”

Maine will start practicing Oct. 12 at the Memorial Gymnasium and hold its annual Blue-White game Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. The exhibition season opens with a home game Nov. 2 against Dalhousie University of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Husson teeing up invitational

Husson College will host nine teams at the Husson College Invitational golf tournament at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono Sunday and Monday.

Despite having six freshmen among their 10 Maine players, the defending North Atlantic Conference champions are again having a solid season.

“They’re playing really well. It’s been quite an interesting year for us,” Husson coach Bruce MacGregor said. “Every one of them has played in at least two tournaments that we’ve won, so everybody’s contributing.

“The fact we have a lot of competition on our team helps make us better, too.”

Junior Adam Duplisea of Hermon leads the team and is coming off a medalist performance with a 2-over-par 73 at the University of Southern Maine Classic. He’s averaging a 77 through nine tournaments.

Ben Estabrook of Bangor is also averaging a 77 and fellow sophomore Chris Coffin of Presque Isle is at 79.

Among the freshmen, Nick Pelletier of Orrington is averaging 77 while three others (Kevin Byrne and Josh Gallagher of Winslow, Chris Hamel of Waterville) are at 78.

“I think the fact that a lot of these guys were successful in high school is a carryover and the game itself hasn’t really changed for them,” said MacGregor. “In that case, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re a senior or a freshman as long as your mental game is at a high level.”