ORONO- The Maine Black Bears went on a 14-2 run to start the second half on Saturday afternoon, and would pull away from UMBC 73-50 in America East men’s basketball action inside Memorial Gymnasium on Skip Chappelle Court.
UMBC struggled from the floor in the first half, but took their only lead of the game on a jumper by Brye Johnson early on. The Retrievers shot just 25.9% (7-27) and 1-10 from three-point territory in the opening 20 minutes. Maine took over the lead for good with a 7-0 run on a jumper and a layup from senior guard AJ Lopez, and a three-pointer by long distance specialist Christopher Mantis. The hosts would hold a 10 point advantage at the break 27-17.
The Black Bears turned it on early in the second half in stretching their lead to 22 at 41-19 over the first 2:47 with a 14-2 run, with 12 of those points coming from Quion Burns (7) and Lopez (5). The lead went to as many as 29, as Maine scored 46 points in the final 20 minutes shooting 19-29 from the field (65.5%) and 6-12 (50%) from the three-point arc for their 8th conference win in 10 tries.
Lopez had a game-high 17 points and five rebounds in the win for Maine. Mantis finished with 14 points (4-8 three-pointers) and five boards, while Burns recorded a double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Black Bears also got seven points from Kellen Tynes, six from Keelan Steele, and four a piece from Jaden Clayton, Killian Gribben, Logan Carey, and Ridvan Tutic. Johnson was the only double digit scorer in the loss for UMBC with 14 points and five rebounds. The Retrievers fall to 11-14 and 3-7 in America East. Maine is now 16-9 and 8-2 in conference play and will host Vermont on Saturday, February 15 at 2 p.m. The Catamounts sent the Black Bears to one of their two America East defeats in Burlington 55-49 on February 1st. The eight America East wins by Maine are the most since they went 9-7 in the 2010-11 season.
Recap, video highlights, and postgame interview by Chris Lessner
