HAMDEN, Conn. – The University of Maine men won their third straight basketball game and first on the road Tuesday night, but not before sweating out the final three minutes.

The Maine Black Bears led by as many as 19 points late in the second half, but had to withstand a late 16-1 scoring run before pulling out a 64-59 victory over Quinnipiac University.

Sophomore forward Mark Socoby of Houlton led the 3-2 Bears with a career-high 29 points on 7-for-16 shooting – 5-for-10 from 3-point range – from the field and a 10-for-10 effort from the foul line. Socoby also led the Black Bears with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

“We need Mark and some of the other younger guys become leaders for us and he did that tonight,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward.

Quinnipiac made it a five-point game with 1 minute, 19 seconds left after trailing by as many as 19 points with 9:04 left in the second half.

“I think their press bothered us a little bit, but we just missed some open shots,” said Woodward. “At the same time, they started to have some shots finally fall.

“Basketball is a game of runs. Fortunately, we put ourselves in good position [to withstand Quinnipiac’s comeback].”

The key play down the stretch came when sophomore guard Junior Bernal grabbed the rebound after Jason Hight blocked a Quinnipiac 3-point shot from the left wing with 35 seconds left. Bernal raced down the court, scored on a layup, drew a foul, and hit the free throw to put Maine up 60-52 with 31 seconds to go.

“That’s what you need. You need to break the ice with a play like that,” Woodward said.

The Bobcats would cut Maine’s lead back down to five on a DeMario Anderson 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds to play, but didn’t have enough time left to catch the Bears.

Bernal had a solid all-around effort with 14 points, seven rebounds, and three steals.

Anderson led the 1-2 Bobcats with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists – all game highs.

Maine outrebounded Quinnipiac 39-37, but committed 19 turnovers to the Bobcats’ 18 and barely outshot them – 38.9 percent to 38.6 from the field. The difference was Maine’s 17-for-19 effort at the foul line, where Quinnipiac went 12 for 18.

“I thought our defense was good for a long period of time, as was our rebounding, and those are the two things we want to be most consistent with,” Woodward said.

The young Bears, who don’t play again until Saturday, when they host Northeastern University, will have a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving with a winning record.

“It means we’re going to have a nice Thanksgiving,” Woodward said. “We still have a long way to grow, but we also have a group with good spirit and focus about them. It’s good that we get to learn lessons while we’re winning instead of losing.”

BLACK BEARS 64, BOBCATS 59

Maine (3-2) Quinnipiac (1-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hight 1 4 0 0 2 Anderson 9 24 9 11 29

Bernal 5 13 4 5 14 Cosgrove 1 3

McNally 2 4 1 2 5 Rutty 4 7 8

Socoby 7 15 10 10 29 Brookins 6 14

Andre 4 6 0 0 8 Baker 0 5 1

Hanzlik 0 3 2 2 2 Geffen 0 4 0

Costigan 0 2 0 0 0 Feldeine 0 0

Cook 2 4 0 0 4 Zajac 2 2 0 4

Bofia 0 2 0 0 0

Totals 21 54 17 19 64 Totals 22 57 12 18 59

Maine 28 64

Quinnipiac 24 59

3-pt. goals – Maine (5-17): Socoby 5-10, Costigan 0-1, Tchekane Bofia 0-2, Hanzlik 0-2, Hight 0-1; Quinnipiac (3-12): Anderson 2-4, Cosgrove 1-3, Feldeine 0-1, Baker 0-2, Geffen 0-2

Attendance: 1,350