Andrew Fleming had a double double with 37 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday night, including his 1,000th career point to help the University of Maine men’s basketball team to an 84-64 win over Merrimack in the season opener at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Merrimack (0-1) had only one lead in the contest when Jaleel Lord knocked down an early three pointer at 3-2. Maine regained the lead on a Vilgot Larsson three point play and went on a 18-2 run to break it open at 20-5. The Bears led by as many as 16 in the first half and by 10 at the break. Fleming knocked down a free throw in the first half to reach the 1,000 point plateau. The Warriors cut it to six a couple times early in the second half. The second time was 50-44 five minutes in, but it was another big Black Bear run that put the game away. Maine (1-0) outscored the visitors 19-3 over the next 6:37 to make it 69-47 and then cruise to the win over the last nine minutes.
Fleming hit 12-18 from the floor in the game and also 12-15 from the foul line. Larsson added 19 points and four rebounds, while Sergio El Darwich also got into double figures with 12 points and four rebounds. Maine shot 56% from the floor and hit 22-27 (81.5%) from the foul line. Jordan Minor had 16 points and five rebounds to lead Merrimack. Lord and Ziggy Reid also each added 12. The Warriors shot only 34% from the floor in the loss.
Maine travels to Harvard to battle the Crimson on Sunday at 2 p.m.
