Ace Flagg is playing some of his best basketball of his freshman season at the right time. Flagg led a trio of Maine players in double figures, scoring a game-high and career-high 22 points, in leading the Black Bears to a 70-59 men’s America East basketball win over Albany on Thursday night at the Broadview Center in Albany, New York.
The Black Bears never trailed in coming out hot and leading by as many as 12 in the first half behind 60.8% shooting (14-23) that included 6-11 (54.5%) from the three-point arc. They had a 37-31 edge at the break. After Maine built their largest advantage at 56-42 with 9:37 left on a Yanis Bamba fastbreak layup, Albany would rally to cut their deficit into single digits at 59-52 on a three-pointer by Tarique Foster with 4:56 to go. But Flagg, who only missed one shot all night, would respond with a jumper in the paint and a three-pointer to push the advantage back to 12 and the Great Danes never got closer than 10 after that.
Isaac Abidde led Albany in the loss with 18 points and seven rebounds. Amir Lindsey also put in 12 points while grabbing five rebounds. The Great Danes drop to 10-19 and 6-8 in America East. Flagg had his best collegiate game for Maine as he went 8-9 from the floor (4-4 three-pointers) and 2-2 from the foul line while also chipping in seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one blocked shot. He has now scored in double figures in three straight contests while shooting a combined 17-26 from the field in those three games. Ryan Mabrey added 14 points (4-8 three-pointers), and TJ Biel contributed 11 points. The Black Bears improve to 8-21 and 6-8 in the conference and will visit Binghamton on Saturday to take on the Bearcats at 2 p.m.
Photo courtesy of UMaine Athletics from a game earlier this season
