The University of Maine mens and womens basketball teams used Martin Luther King Day to play some basketball, in a pair of rare Monday afternoon conference games.
In the mens game at Reich Family Arena in West Hartford, Connecticut, the home standing Hartford Hawks took advantage of the cold shooting visiting Maine Black Bears to earn their first America East win 54-44.
Hartford (6-13, 1-3 AE), was able to get by a Maine team that shot only 32 percent from the floor. Jalen Ross led the way for the Hawks with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Jason Dunne also chipped in 10 points.
Vincent Eze led Maine (5-15, 1-4) with 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block. Wes Myers also got into double digits with 12 points and five rebounds.
Maine stayed with four points at halftime at 33-29, but shot just 24 percent in the second half and scored only 15 points in the second 20 minutes of action.
Maine returns home Thursday to host UNH at the Cross Insurance Center at 7 p.m.
In the womens contest at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, the Maine Black Bears continued their solid home play with a 73-62 win over Hartford.
Blanca Millan led Maine with 23 points, five rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal. Tanesha Sutton put in 12 points, had nine rebounds, and dished out six assists. The Bears improved to 5-1 at home this season, and goes to 10-10 overall and 3-2 in America East.
Hartford was led by freshman Sierra Decosta who had 19 points and three steals on the afternoon. The Hawks dropped their first conference game of the year and fall to 12-5 and 3-1.
Sigi Koizar was in the starting lineup for the first time in five games, and had six points, five rebounds, and two steals in 31 minutes played.
Maine shot a sizzling 51 percent from the floor, knocking down seven three pointers, and made 10-11 from the foul line. Hartford was limited to just 35 percent shooting in the game.
Next up for Maine is a big early season conference matchup at UNH Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are 14-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play, that includes an 8-1 home record.
