Gedi Juozapaitis had a game high 21 points on Sunday afternoon, and the Maine Black Bears forced 19 Binghamton turnovers en route to a 78-57 men’s basketball win at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. The win is the first for Maine in America East, and also snaps an eight game losing skid.
After an early back and forth and the score tied 7-7 over the first 4:34 of action, Maine would go on a 16-1 run over the next 5:40 and never would trail again building a 23-8 lead capped off by a Peter Filipovity layup. The Black Bears nailed five of their 10 three-pointer attempts in the first half (three by Gedi Juozapaitis), and Kellen Tynes had four of the 10 steals the team accumulated as they forced 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. Binghamton was only 1-7 from long range, as the largest deficit was 15 as they trailed 36-25 at the halftime break.
Binghamton (8-11, 4-2 America East) opened the second half with a three-pointer by Dan Petcash to cut their deficit to eight, but that is as close they’d get the rest of the way. Maine went on a 9-2 run to increase their lead back to 15, on a three-pointer by Juozapaitis, layups by Kristians Feierbergs and Kellen Tynes, and two free throws from Juozapaitis. The final 21 point margin was the biggest lead of the afternoon, as the Black Bears also gave head coach Chris Markwood his first taste of a conference victory since becoming head coach.
Juozapaitis shot 7-16 overall (5-9 on three-pointers) to lead the way in the win. Tynes had 14 points, seven assists, and six steals as Maine finished with 16 steals in the game. Filipovity ended up in double figures as well with 12 points and nine rebounds. Feierbergs added nine points, Ja’Shon Wright-McLeish had seven, and Ata Turgut contributed six points. Petcash was the only one in double digits in the loss for Binghamton with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. The Bearcats had their four game win streak snapped. Maine is now 7-12, 1-5 in conference play and will welcome UMass-Lowell to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Recap by Chris Lessner
BIN (8-11, 4-2) 25 32- 57
UME (7-12, 1-5) 36 42- 78
Rebounds- Binghamton 31, Maine 32
Free throws- Binghamton 13-15, Maine 10-12
Turnovers- Binghamton 19, Maine 9
Three-point goals- Binghamton: Petcash, Hinckson/ Maine: Juozapaitis 5, Feierbergs, Wright-McLeish, Clayton
