ORLANDO, Fla. – Senior guard Derrick Hodge scored 17 points on 7-for-11 floor shooting to lead the University of Maine to a 78-70 men’s basketball victory over Liberty University of Lynchburg, Va., in the season opener for both teams at the University of Central Florida Classic here Friday night.

Coach Rudy Keeling’s Black Bears will take on the winner of Friday night’s late game between host Central Florida and Southeast Louisiana in Saturday’s 8 p.m. championship contest.

Junior point guard Marty Higgins tossed in 12 points to go with 4 assists and 3 steals while playing a team-high 32 minutes. He committed just three turnovers. Francois Bouchard added 10 points to a balanced offensive attack.

Deonte Hursey added 9 points, while Ken Barnes chipped in with 7 points and a team-high 6 rebounds. The Bears outrebounded the Flames 33-28.

Only five Black Bears played more than 20 minutes, while every player in the lineup saw at least six minutres of action.

Chris Toomer sparked Liberty with a game-high 21 points, which came via a 7-for-11 effort from beyond the three-point line. Jeff Bloom added 12 points for the Flames, who connected for a school-record 13 three-pointers on 21 attempts, a sparkling 62 percent.

Maine shot 49 percent from the floor and 60 percent from the foul line, making only 12 of 21 from the stripe in the second half. Liberty committed 33 turnovers.

Liberty jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before the Bears came back to tie it three minutes into the contest. Maine never trailed after that point.

The Bears went into the second half with a seemingly comfortable 17-point lead (44-27), but the Flames battled back to within two at 60-58. Maine held on, scoring its last nine points from the free-throw line en route to a 21-for-34 effort on the night.

Black Bear men 78, Flames 70

Maine Liberty

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Terrell 3 1 0 0 3 Nwosu 6 2 3 1 5

Hursey 5 2 6 5 9 Miller 0 0 0 0 0

Higgins 8 3 6 5 12 Toomer 11 7 0 0 21

Jones 2 0 4 2 2 Hildebrand 4 3 3 2 8

Kerry 3 1 0 0 2 Anthony 3 2 2 2 7

Dennis 7 3 2 1 7 Bloom 7 5 1 0 12

McClaire 0 0 0 0 0 Roach 1 0 0 0 0

Barnes 4 3 6 1 7 Burton 6 2 2 1 7

Hillman 3 2 2 1 5 Coleman 3 1 2 2 4

Robertson 1 1 4 2 4 Yates 2 1 2 1 4

Bouchard 6 3 5 4 10 Pratt 2 1 0 0 2

Totals 53 26 35 21 78 Totals 45 24 15 9 70

Maine 44 78

Liberty 27 70

Preliminary:

3-pt. goals: Maine (5-13): Terrell 1-2, Higgins 1-5, Hodge 3-4, Jones 0-1, Kerry 0-1; Liberty (13-21): Toomer 7-11, Anthony 1-2, Bloom 2-3, Burton 2-4, Yates 1-1