Coach Jack Cosgrove has spent the last several years stressing to his University of Maine football teams the importance of playing a full 60 minutes as a key ingredient in being successful in the Colonial Athletic Association.

On Saturday, another solid performance ended in another gut-wrenching, late-game loss for the Black Bears.

Quarterback Adam Farkes was intercepted on the second play of the second overtime period as Stony Brook eked out a 30-23 victory.

“[It was] a very difficult loss for us,” Cosgrove said during the weekly CAA conference call. “We had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and let that get away. We did not respond and secure the win after being up 20-10.”

While UMaine’s defense has struggled to stop opponents late in games during recent weeks, it was turnovers that proved the difference against the Seawolves.

The Bears led by 10 points with 10:29 remaining, only to have Stony Brook answer with a 10-play touchdown drive.

“They responded by driving the football field 72 yards and putting a touchdown back up on the board,” Cosgrove said. “We didn’t respond the way you need to when you have a two-score lead.”

UMaine then had the ball and a three-point edge with 7:22 to play. Two plays later, Mike McCoy intercepted Farkes and gave SBU the ball at its own 48-yard line.

“We turned it over late in the fourth quarter and in overtime,” Cosgrove said. “Turnovers ended up being our downfall.”

The Bears held, for the moment, as the hosts missed a short field goal. However, UMaine was unable to put the game away.

Stony Brook forced the Bears to punt and capitalized on a short kick to set up the game-tying field goal with two seconds left in regulation.

“Our guys competed hard and we went the distance with them, but the downer part of things is we just didn’t get it done at the end,” Cosgrove said.

UM’s Walcott to play two sports

Antonio Walcott has been a valuable contributor this season for the UMaine football team, but his talent doesn’t end on the gridiron.

Walcott is expected to join the UMaine baseball team for the 2008 season.

“He’s ready to go as soon as football’s over,” said UMaine baseball coach Steve Trimper. “We’ll get him for workouts and have him in the spring.”

The speedy freshman from Brooklyn, N.Y., has seen some time in the Bears’ backfield as a slash (combination running back/receiver) but also has emerged as a threat on kickoff and punt returns.

Walcott, the smallest man on the squad at 5-foot-5, 160 pounds, is averaging a healthy 25.3 yards on kickoff returns and has netted 6.1 yards per punt return.

Walcott also is a talented baseball player. He can play shortstop, second base and even the outfield. His speed should give UMaine another base-stealing threat.

Trimper explained Walcott agreed to attend UMaine only if he would be allowed to play both baseball and football. Cosgrove and Trimper agreed to help make it happen.

Walcott will be a baseball teammate of lefthander Nolan Boike, who is doing double duty this season as a member of the Bears’ hockey team.

UM baseball releases schedule

UMaine baseball also has released its 2008 schedule, one that includes a three-game series at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, six games in Florida and three games in the Navy tournament at Annapolis, Md.

The Bears, who will open the season with a three-game series Feb. 23-24 at Delaware State, will then play 13 games in 17 days as part of their annual spring trip.

“Playing at UNLV will be a great series,” Trimper said. “They’re in the Mountain West Conference with TCU [Texas Christian] and San Diego State.”

UMaine’s Florida swing includes contests against Notre Dame and Miami.

This year’s schedule also has two travel days and a couple of off days, which should help the Bears avoid putting too much stress on their pitching staff.

“It’s going to work out we’re getting the right days of rest for the guys,” Trimper said. “We have more depth, too.”

UM baseball recruiting touted

UMaine’s 2007 baseball recruiting class has been ranked third in the Northeast by Baseball America.

Trimper’s signees ranked behind only Boston College and his former school, Manhattan.

The Bears achieved the ranking for the second straight year, also beating out Lehigh (fourth) and America East rival Vermont (fifth).

“We needed to upgrade our pitching and our defense and add a little depth,” Trimper said. “We’re pretty excited, after fall ball, about what we got.”