ORONO – The Boston University men’s basketball team was the preseason pick to win America East, but the 5-14 team that came into Alfond Arena on Wednesday night was tied for seventh in the AE standings at 2-5 with Maine.

So much for appearances.

Not quite at full strength but rapidly approaching it for the first time this season, the Terriers looked much more like that preseason pick, using tough man-to-man defensive pressure and foul shooting to down the Black Bears 56-49.

“This was a big game for us. To go on the road and get it was important,” said BU coach Dennis Wolff.

The Terriers hit 13 of 14 free throws and helped cause 21 Maine turnovers, which they scored 15 points off compared to the seven Maine scored off 13 Terrier turnovers.

“We’re fortunate to win when we shot 3-for-18 from 3-point range, but we did get more baskets in the lane and were more aggressive around the lane,” said Wolff. “Defensively, we wanted to extend the floor to bring their big guys down more into the backcourt and make them handle the ball more, primarily so we wouldn’t have guard them inside since they have better size than we have.”

Sophomore forward Scott Brittain scored a game-high 20 points to lead the 6-14 Terriers, but the key effort came from freshman swingman John Holland, who had 15 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.

Houlton’s Mark Socoby led 6-15 Maine with 19 points and three assists. Fellow sophomore guard Junior Bernal chipped in with 10 points and three assists.

“We got a lot of stops but it all boiled down to free throws at the end,” said Socoby. “They made them, we missed them, and they made some more plays.”

Maine went 9-for-15 from the foul line.

The Terriers used an 11-2 run to take a 50-41 lead with 5:29 left to play, but Maine scored seven straight points to make it a two-point game with 3:07 left.

Scott Brittain hit both ends of a 1-and-1 before Junior Bernal missed the front end of a Maine 1-and-1 just seconds later and a Corey Lowe layup off a steal and pass from Brittain with 1:29 left made it 54-68. Two John Holland free throws later, B.U. led 56-48 with just 38 seconds to play.

“We had a couple of turnovers by aggression in a couple of sequences and a couple missed free throws, and they made some plays, but I credit our guys for coming back and battling throughout a physical game for 40 minutes,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward. “We’ve got to have balance and open up the game for the perimeter guys, but once we didn’t have the same balance with the post late in the game, they were able to key on our perimeter guys and that made it tougher to score.”

Maine’s already undermanned frontcourt took another hit when center Brian Andre was called for an offensive foul – his fourth of the game – and then fouled out after getting whistled for a technical after complaining about the foul call with 10:23 left in the game.

Sean McNally turned in a solid effort while starting in place of injured junior forward Philippe Tchekane Bofia, who was out with a shoulder injury. The freshman forward from Gardiner finished with nine points, eight rebounds, a block and an assist.

“Coach told me as long as I’m playing defense and getting rebounds, I’m going to play and that’s what I’ve been concentrating on,” McNally said.

MAINE NOTES – Maine got an early start on recruiting and unexpected bonus with the signing of 6-foot-3 guard Gerald McLemore, one of Worcester Academy’s top players. McLemore not only signed with the Black Bears after completing his pre-arranged Orono campus visit last weekend, he also decided to leave his Worcester Prep team and enroll for the spring semester at UMaine. McLemore, who will have four years of eligibility, won’t suit up for the Bears until next season. According to New England Basketball Recruiting Report’s web site, the California native has a chance to be “a very important player in America East” and an immediate contributor for the Bears.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

990-8205

TERRIERS 56, BLACK BEARS 49

BU (6-14) Maine (6-15)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Sirutis 0 2 0 0 0 McNally 4 12 9

Holland 4 9 6 6 15 Socoby 5 9 19

Brittain 7 11 6 6 20 Cook 2 3 4

Strong 2 9 1 1 5 Bernal 4 6 10

Morris 1 5 0 1 3 Owes 2 5 5

Konate 0 0 0 0 0 Barnies 0 0 0

Wolff 1 1 0 0 2 Andre 1 2 2

Johnson 2 2 0 0 4 Peay 0 1 0

Lowe 3 8 0 0 7

Totals 20 47 13 14 56 Totals 18 38 15 49

Boston University 31 56

Maine 26 49

3-pt. goals – BU (3-18): Holland 1-2, Morris 1-4, Lowe 1-6, Sirutis 0-2, Strong 0-4; Maine (4-14): Socoby 3-7, McNally 1-6, Owes 0-1

Attendance: 1,219 (tickets issued)