The New Hampshire Wildcats put four players in double figures, and used a 16-5 second half run on Saturday night to defeat Maine 60-57 in America East men’s basketball action at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, NH.
The first half saw six ties and five lead changes. Maine took their first lead on a three-point play by Peter Filipovity at 9-6. UNH ran off seven straight points capped off by a layup by Ahmad Robinson to take back a 13-9 advantage. Filipovity was big all day for the Black Bears, and pushed them back in front 17-16 before the Wildcats would use a run of 11-2 to take what turned out to be the biggest lead of the game at 27-19. The guests returned the favor with a run of their own of 17-6 over the final 6:42, and would take a 36-33 lead into the halftime break.
Maine took their biggest lead of the night at 40-34 on a fastbreak dunk by Kellen Tynes 3:15 into the second half. UNH ran off six straight on back to back three-pointers to tie it by Jaxson Baker, before two free throws and a jumper by Jaden Clayton restored a four point advantage for the Black Bears. The Wildcats would then go on their decisive run of 16-5 over the next 8:41 to take the lead for good and make it 58-51 with 3:40 left to play. Maine got within one on a jumper by A.J. Lopez with 18 seconds remaining, before Robinson hit two free throws for the three point cushion five seconds later. The Bears never got a shot off in time to try to tie it in the final seconds.
Filipovity had a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss for Maine. Clayton added 12 points and three steals, while Tynes also got into double figures with 10 points and also chipped in three steals. The Black Bears, who shot just 1-13 from the three-point arc, fall to 11-13 and 3-6 in America East. Baker had a double double to lead UNH to the victory with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Clarence Daniels and Trey Woodyard had 13 points each, and Robinson finished with 10 points. Daniels also had nine rebounds, and Robinson had eight. The Wildcats also won the rebounding battle 43-30, and improve to 14-9 and 6-4 in conference play. Maine heads back on the road for a rematch with Bryant University on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Bears just upset the Bulldogs in the Pit last Saturday 79-72.
Recap by Chris Lessner
