The Maine basketball teams faced the University of Vermont on Saturday afternoon. The men played at home in the Pit, while the women played a very important America East contest for seeding as the regular season winds down in Burlington against the Catamounts.
In men’s game in the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono- Shamir Bogues had a game-high 21 points, as Vermont remained the top team in the conference with a 68-57 win over Maine. After a three-point play by Kellen Tynes to open the scoring, the Catamounts went on a 15-0 run. The Black Bears answered with a spurt of their own of 15-5 in a span of about six minutes capped off by a three-pointer by Quion Burns to cut it to 20-18. They eventually took the lead back and their final lead 28-25 on a three-pointer by Jaden Clayton with 4:13 left in the first half. An 11-1 Vermont run in that final 4:13 gave the guests a 36-29 halftime advantage. Maine got within four early in the second half, but that is as close they’d get as the Catamounts would match their biggest lead of 12 in their 28th consecutive victory over the Black Bears.
Tynes led Maine in the loss with 17 points and six rebounds. Clayton added 13 points and four assists. Burns would finish up with nine points, while Peter Filipovity and Kristians Feierbergs contributed five points a piece. The Black Bears fall to 11-15 and 3-8 in America East. Bogues had seven rebounds to go along with his game-high point total in the Vermont win. Illeri Ayo-Faleye and Nick Fiorillo also got into double figures with 14 and 12 points respectively, as the Catamounts improve to 21-6 and 11-1 in conference play.
In the women’s game at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vermont- Adrianna Smith hit two free throws with 3:43 left in the fourth quarter to put Maine ahead for good and complete a second half comeback, as the Black Bears rallied from a 12 point first half deficit to score the big 57-55 road win over Vermont and sweep the regular season series against the defending league champs. After a Smith jumper in the paint gave the guests an 8-6 first quarter lead, the Catamounts ended the opening 10 minutes on a 14-0 run to make it 20-8. Andjela Matic nailed 3 three-pointers and had 11 of those 14 points. Maine would trail by 12 in the second at 26-14, and were still down by eight 32-24 at the break before making their push over the final 20 minutes. Three-pointers by Sarah Talon and Anne Simon early in the third quarter helped sparked the run, and a jumper by Smith 4:27 into the period gave the Bears their first lead since the first quarter at 35-34. They were clinging to a 46-43 advantage heading to the fourth. Delaney Richardson gave Vermont their final lead 51-50 with a three-pointer with 4:04 left to play, before the Smith free throws to give her team up a lead they wouldn’t give back 21 seconds later. The hosts had a great chance to at least force overtime in the closing seconds when Talon missed two free throws with 10 seconds remaining, but a reverse layup attempt in the paint by Keira Hanson rolled off the rim no good as the final seconds ticked off.
Smith and Simon both led the way in the Maine win with 16 points each. Smith just missed another double double, as she added nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Simon contributed four rebounds and five steals, while Talon also got into double figures with 15 points and five boards. Maine is now 18-8 and 11-1 in America East, giving them some breathing at possibly being at least the #2 seed. Matic led Vermont in the loss with 14 points, while Hanson had 13. Anna Olson recorded a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Emma Utterback chipped in 10 points. The Catamounts are now 18-9 and 10-3 in the conference.
The Maine basketball teams return to action Thursday night against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC). The men host the Retrievers in the Pit at 6 p.m., while the women are in Baltimore for a 7’oclock tip-off.
Recaps by Chris Lessner
