The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams both played non-conference games on Wednesday night. The women hosted Harvard, while the men were on the road at Boston University.
In the women’s game in the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono- Maine went on an 18-4 third quarter run and would score 47 second half points, pulling away from Harvard for a 79-61 win. The first half saw six lead changes, and the Black Bears would hold a slight 32-29 advantage at the halftime break. The Crimson scored the first seven points of the third quarter, capped off by a three-pointer by Lola Mullaney to take a 36-32 lead. After a pair of free throws by Adrianna Smith, Olivia Rockwood put the hosts into the lead with a three-pointer at 37-36 and they would never trail again. Maine would hit three-pointers on three consecutive possessions by Sera Hodgson and two by Jacie Christopher, and would lead by as many as 10 in the period. With Harvard still hanging around down just 56-51 with 8:52 to play, the Bears put it away by outscoring the Crimson 23-10 the rest of the way to improve to 6-4 on the season.
Anne Simon led the way in the win with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals with 13 of her points coming in the second half. Caroline Bornemann had 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Christopher and Smith also got into double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Christopher went 4-5 from the floor (3-4 three-pointers), and Smith chipped in six rebounds, 10 assists, two blocks, and three steals. Mullaney was the high scorer in the loss for Harvard out of the Ivy League with 17 points. The Crimson sees their record dip to 5-4.
In the men’s game at Case Gym in Boston- Kellen Tynes and Peter Filipovity both came up big as Maine improved to 7-4 for the first time since the 2004-2005 season with a 74-65 win over Boston University. The Terriers took a six point lead three times early on, and would lead by as many as seven in the first half. The Black Bears took over the lead for the first time and would go up three on a Tynes jumper with 5:23 left at 24-21 as part of an 11-1 run. The guests would build that advantage to as many as eight, and took a 34-28 lead to halftime. Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish knocked down a three-pointer early in the second half for the biggest lead of the game 41-30. Still down by six with 8:40 to play, Boston University made one more run and tied it at 60 when Matai Baptiste buried a three-pointer from the top of the key with 4:14 remaining. A jumper by Tynes regained the lead for good, and Filipovity would hit a pair of corner three-pointers in front of the Maine bench over a 40 second span to ice the road victory. The two scored the final 16 points for their team in the win.
Tynes had 21 points, three rebounds, and two steals. He shot 7-12 from the floor. Filipovity had a double double also shooting a very efficient 7-13, and finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists. Wright-McLeish also finished in double figures with 11 points. Kyrone Alexander and Nico Nobili led Boston University in the loss with 13 and 11 points respectively. The Terriers out of the Patriot League fall to 3-6 on the season.
Maine men’s basketball, who has now won three in a row, returns to action on Saturday in the Pit at 2 p.m. when they take on Central Connecticut State. The women’s team is off until Sunday, December 17 when they also play at home welcoming in James Madison University at 1 p.m.
Recaps by Chris Lessner
