ORONO – He probably would have been thrilled to be proven wrong, but University of Maine men’s basketball coach Ted Woodward predicted his young team would have a lot of growing pains before the season was done.

There were enough of those for a family size bottle of Bayer Saturday as the Black Bears were on the verge of reeling in a big America East win against Boston University before letting the Terriers off the hook.

The Terriers took their first lead of the second half with 51/2 minutes to play and hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to pull out a 58-55 victory at a boisterous Memorial Gymnasium.

“We had a few turnovers and a few shots we shouldn’t have taken in key situations. We definitely feel we gave it away,” said UMaine senior guard Ernest Turner. “We were hyped coming into this game and you could see it in the first half.”

The intimate trappings of “The Pit” seemed to energize the Bears, who played a near-perfect first half and took a six-point lead into halftime.

Terriers coach Dennis Wolff, who did not meet with the media after the game, was less than pleased about playing at The Pit, however.

“I know he definitely wasn’t thrilled about that, but I don’t know if that had anything to do with him leaving right after,” said BU men’s basketball sports information director Bryan Satter. “I guess he was disappointed that of all the games they chose to play there, they chose our game. It’s the first conference game there in 15 years. I know he would have preferred to play at Alfond.”

The Bears committed just five turnovers, outshot BU 42.3 to 32.1 percent, and held their own on the boards with the Terriers having 18 rebounds to Maine’s 17. So what happened in the second half?

“As long as the game goes on, the intensity goes higher and because we’re a young team and learning, it happens that sometimes we have some mistakes and that’s pretty much how we have those little fouls, missed rebounds and turnovers that make us lose the game,” said freshman forward Philippe Tchekane Bofia, who helped Maine hold its own inside against bigger BU with 10 points and seven rebounds.

What Bofia and 6-foot-10 center Olli Ahvenniemi couldn’t do was help Maine hold its own from the bench, which is where it spent a significant portion of the second half after each was whistled for a fourth foul three minutes apart.

“That, to me, was the turning point in the basketball game,” said Woodward, whose Bears are 2-6 overall and 0-2 in America East. “We went a six-minute stretch without those guys on the court and physically, we drop off when they’re not in there.

“We didn’t have much of an inside presence then and as a result, lost offensive balance.”

Ahvenniemi only had five points, but he grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots.

Still, the Bears gave themselves opportunities to win, but they also took them away with five of their 13 total turnovers in the final six minutes and a couple of ill-advised shots.

Maine took its biggest lead (48-39) with 9:05 to play, but BU scored 10 straight points over the next four minutes (right after Bofia got his fourth foul). The lead changed twice before Maine called timeout with 3:06 left. The Terriers then pounded the ball inside, drawing four fouls with Maine already in the double bonus.

The Bears forced a BU turnover with 36.7 seconds left and Maine trailing 54-52, but Turner’s shot from the right block in traffic wouldn’t fall and Bofia, who grabbed the rebound, couldn’t hold on as Ben Coblyn stole it away and then hit two foul shots on the other end to all but ice it.

Maine, which shot 5-for-7 from the line in the first half, took just two foul shots in the second half – a fact which visibly surprised Woodward when asked about it.

“I don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve noticed that,” he said. “I did feel like we were going aggressively to the basket and the low post.”

The Terriers, conversely, hit 13 of 19 second-half foul shots.

Ernest Turner led the way for Maine with 15 points.

The 3-5 (2-0 in AE play) Terriers were paced by 6-9 forward Kevin Gardner (16 points, eight rebounds) and freshman guard Corey Hassan (16, five). Brian Macon dished out a game-high six assists.

TERRIERS 58, BLACK BEARS 55

Boston University (3-5) Maine (2-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Konate 0 2 2 3 2 Sheets 3 8 9

Wynn 3 6 2 2 9 Bofia 5 13 0 10

Gardner 7 15 2 2 16 Ahvenniemi 2 5

Macon 2 8 2 2 7 R. Turner 3 8

Hassan 5 10 3 5 16 E. Turner 6 13 1 1 15

Geffen 1 2 0 0 3 Bruff 1 5 5

Coblyn 0 5 5 8 5 Petkus 1 1 3

Peterkin 0 2 0 1 0 Cavanaugh 0 0

Totals 18 50 16 23 58 Totals 21 54 55

Boston University 25 58

Maine 31 55

3-pt. goals – BU (6-14): Hassan 3-6, Wynn 1-2, Geffen 1-2, Macon 1-4; Maine (8-18): Sheets 3-7, R. Turner 2-5, E. Turner 2-5, Petkus 1-1

Attendance: 800 (est.)