ORONO- Quinnipiac outscored Maine 42-28 in the second half on Sunday afternoon, rallying past the Black Bears 70-64 in men’s basketball action on Skip Chappelle Court at Memorial Gymnasium. It was the home opener for Maine.
Maine shot 43% in the opening 20 minutes, and after a slow start the Black Bears used a run of 18-8 in a span of 6:39 to build an 11-point advantage at 33-22 on a tip-in by Keelan Steele. TJ Biel paced the hosts with a strong start scoring 14 points, as his team led 36-28 at the break. Ryan Mabrey, who played for Quinnipiac last season before transferring, hit a layup with 14:37 left to give Maine their biggest lead at 44-32 but it was all Bobcats after that as the Black Bears cooled off. QU went on a 14-0 run to take the lead for good on a layup by Grant Randall, and their first lead since it was 9-8 early in the first half. Caleb Crawford pulled his team back within one with a three-pointer with 4:30 remaining, but that is as close as Maine would get as Quinnipiac made 10-14 from the foul line over the final 2:57 to ice the win. The Black Bears shot 35% in the second half, and for the game only 14-21 from the foul line.
Amarri Monroe led Quinnipiac to the victory by recording a double double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Keith McKnight added 11 points, and Jaden Zimmerman had 10. The Bobcats, the two-time defending champions out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and picked to win their league again this season improve to 2-2. Biel finished with a team-high 17 points (6-10 field goals, 3-4 three-pointers) and four blocked shots in the Maine loss. Steele had 14 points, six rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and three steals. Ryan Mabrey chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Newport native Ace Flagg didn’t score in his home debut, but did contribute six rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 18 minutes. The Black Bears (0-4) still seeking that first win will travel to Merrimack to play the Warriors on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
