BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Maine men’s basketball team’s resurgence continued in dramatic fashion Thursday night.

Senior guard Kevin Reed nailed three of his four 3-pointers over the final 5:41 as the Black Bears outscored Vermont 13-2 to erase a six-point deficit and post a 69-64 America East win at Patrick Gymnasium.

Maine extended its winning streak to three games while snapping Vermont’s streak at seven.

The Black Bears are now 8-11 overall, 3-4 in America East. Vermont fell to 12-6 and 4-1, respectively.

Vermont was holding a 62-56 lead with 5:41 remaining before Reed hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie it up.

The teams swapped baskets before Reed hit his final 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to give Maine the lead for good. Chris Bruff added a pair of insurance free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

Vermont held a 41-36 halftime lead, but the Bears limited the Catamounts to 26.9 percent shooting from the floor in the second half, including just 1-for-7 from 3-point territory.

“We really stuck together and played very well at the defensive end of the court,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward.

Reed finished with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. He also had three assists. Junior Bernal contributed 16 points and five assists, and Bruff chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Jon Sheets and Mark Socoby combined for 17 points.

Colin McIntosh had 18 points for the Catamounts along with three steals. Mike Trimboli scored 17 points Chris Holm had 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Kyle Cieplicki had a team-high four assists.

Woodward said Reed had a terrific game.

“He’s a tremendous player. He has proven that over his time at Maine. He had the opportunity to put us on his back, and he was able to make plays for us,” said Woodward. “We made some big plays at both ends of the court. We had a number of guys step up for us.”

The Bears had 14 assists and only seven turnovers, which is a sign of maturation, according to Woodward.

“We didn’t force anything. We played very well offensively. Our team is growing up,” said Woodward, who noted that two of his primary ball-handlers – Bernal and Socoby – are freshmen.

Bernal turned the ball over just twice and Socoby had only one.

BLACK BEARS 69, CATAMOUNTS 64

Maine (8-11) Vermont (12-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bruff 4 7 2 3 10 Trapani 1 5 2

Bernal 7 13 2 5 16 Blakely 1 7 7

Ahvnniemi 0 1 2 2 2 Holm 5 12 11

Sheets 3 8 0 0 9 Trimboli 7 16 0 0 17

Reed 7 17 0 0 18 Cieplicki 0 7 0

Socoby 2 2 2 2 8 Green 0 1 0

Cook 0 0 0 0 0 Sisca 0 0 0 0

Bofia 3 6 0 0 6 Vier 1 2 3

Klimes 3 4 0 6

Powlovch 0 0 0

McCrory 0 0 0 0

McIntosh 4 6 18

Totals 26 54 8 12 69 Totals 22 60 15 20 64

Maine 36 69

Vermont 41 64

3-pt. goals – Maine (9-19): Reed 4-8, Sheets 3-8, Socoby 2-2, Tchekane Bofia 0-1; Vermont (5-15): Trimboli 3-8, Vier 1-1, McIntosh 1-2, Trapani 0-2, Cieplicki 0-2

Attendance: 2,914