Socoby, Black Bears upend Great Danes

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ALBANY, N.Y. – The University of Maine men’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak in a big way with an 81-70 victory over two-time defending conference champion Albany on its home court Wednesday night.

The Black Bears hit six of nine 3-point attempts and 22 of 34 shots from the field overall to extend their lead in the second half and pull away.

Mark Socoby scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as Maine improved its record to 6-13 overall and 2-4 in America East play. The sophomore guard from Houlton also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Free throw shooting, a big weakness for the Bears in recent games, was a particular strength Wednesday as the Bears canned all 22 of their foul shots in the second half and 31 of 36 overall.

“We were much more consistent tonight,” said Maine head coach Ted Woodward. “We played without making consecutive mistakes. We wouldn’t follow one up with another.”

Junior guard Kaimondre Owes had another strong effort with 17 points while sophomore guard and former Maine Central Institute Postgrad Junior Bernal had 16 points and four assists.

The Bears were outrebounded 26-25 and committed 13 turnovers to Albany’s 10, but their shooting (64.7 percent from the field, 66.7 percent from 3-point range and 86.1 percent from the line) was more than enough to offset the Danes’ advantages.

Maine shot 70 percent from the field in the first half and took a 35-30 lead into halftime against the Great Danes, 9-10 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

Albany opened the second half with an 11-2 run to grab the lead (41-37) and then expanded it to 12 points (51-39) with 10:58 left, but Maine came back to retake the lead. With the score tied at 54-54, the Bears scored eight straight points to take the lead for good.

“Beating Albany and UMBC on the road shows these guys what they’re capable of when they play at the level we push them to play at,” said Woodward. “Now we have to carry this into a home game against Binghamton Sunday.”

Brian Lillis led the Danes with 19 points, five assists and four steals. Tim Ambrose had 16 points and Brian Connelly added 16.

BLACK BEARS 81, GREAT DANES 70

Maine men (6-13) Albany (9-10)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Socoby 5 8 6 6 20 Connelly 6 10 3 3 15

Bofia 2 3 0 0 4 Wilson 1 7 4

Cook 1 1 2 2 4 Covington 1 2 4

Bernal 4 6 8 10 16 Hastings 2 6

Owes 4 7 8 8 17 Lillis 7 16 4 19

Barnies 1 1 2 2 4 Martin 0 1 0

McNally 2 3 2 4 7 Moores 0 0 0

Andre 3 5 2 2 8 Iati 0 5 0

Peay 0 0 1 2 1 Ambrose 6 9 2 16

Gifford 2 2 2 6

Turley 0 0 0 0

Totals 22 34 31 36 81 Totals 25 59 17 21 70

Maine 35 81

Albany 30 70

3-pt. goals – Maine (6-9): Socoby 4-6, McNally 1-1, Owes 1-2; Albany (3-13): Ambrose 2-2, Lillis 1-1, Martin 0-1, Wilson 0-4, Iati 0-5

Attendance: 3,117

Women’s basketball

MMA 71, Thomas 41

At Waterville, Kaitlyn Leeman and Megan Franklin each scored 10 points to lead Maine Maritime Academy of Castine past the Terriers.

Franklin also grabbed nine rebounds for the 8-7 winners while Amethyst Cousins put in nine points and Brittany Hunt added eight.

Amy Miles paced Thomas with 12 points and Mallorie Blakney added eight.

Saint Joseph’s 56, Suffolk 44

At Standish, Casey Drake had 15 points and three steals to help lead Saint Joseph’s College to victory over Suffolk University.

Alysn Ludwig had seven points, seven rebounds and four steals for the Monks

Christie Duquette scored 15 points for Suffolk.

Suffolk (9-5) 44

Morrissey 1-0-2, Klecha 3-2-8, Castignetti 1-1-4, Zito 1-2-4, Tracey 1-0-2, Bowman 3-0-6, Brignac 0-1-1, Iwanicki 4-3-15, Duquette 1-0-2, Thompson

Saint Joseph’s (11-5) 56

Ludwig 2-3-7, Miner 1-2-4, Cartwright 3-2-8, Freeman 2-3-8, Daigle 4-0-8, Drake 5-0-15, Boston 2-0-4, Farrell 0-1-1, Lint 0-1-1, Fournier, Enright

3-pt. goals: Iwanicki 4, Castignetti; Drake 3, Freeman

Halftime: Suffolk 25-19

Bowdoin 64, Clark 58

At Brunswick, the Polar Bears used an 18-2 second-half run to pull away to their seventh straight win.

Jill Anelauskas scored a team-high 16 points for 12-4 Bowdoin, while Old Town’s Katie Bergeron scored 15 points on five 3-pointers, one shy of the school record. Maria Noucas added 12 points and Caitlin Hynes of Owls Head contributed 10 points, 13 rebounds, five blocked shots and four assists.

Sarah Rodrigue of Oakland led 6-9 Clark University of Worcester, Mass., with 22 points and 11 rebounds.