The Maine men’s basketball team finished up play in the Cathedral Classic Invitational in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon against Navy, while Maine women’s basketball was back in action in Bloomington against the Indiana Hoosiers.
In the men’s game at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Maine shot 63% over the last 20 minutes, led by senior guard Quion Burns who had a game-high 21 points (19 in second half), as the Black Bears rallied for a 71-66 win over the United States Naval Academy.
After a couple slight leads early in the first half for Maine, the Midshipmen would take over and build leads of 11 on a couple different occasions including on a three-pointer by Jinwoo Kim with 3:14 left. The Black Bears started to turn the tide however, outscoring Navy 8-2 to close out the half that included three-pointers by Kellen Tynes and AJ Lopez to cut the deficit to 33-28 at the break. Maine came out of the intermission on fire to re-take an advantage they’d never relinquish shooting over 80% over the first nine minutes, and would eventually go up as many as 13 on a layup by Burns with 7:36 left to play. Burns had also hit a jumper earlier in the half to put his team up for good. The Midshipmen did cut it to on at 65-64 with 1:30 remaining on a three-point play by Donovan Draper, but Tynes clinched it by scoring the last six points for the Black Bears on a layup, a jumper, and two free throws.
Burns was 8-9 from the floor overall for his game-high point total including four rebounds, two steals, and one blocked shot. He shot 7-7 in the second half (4-4 from the foul line). Tynes filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and four steals. AJ Lopez also got into double figures with 10 points. Aidan Kahoe led Navy in the loss with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Kim had 13 points. The Midshipmen out of the Patriot League fall to 3-6. Maine (5-4) joined Elon with a 2-1 record in the Invitational but beat the Phoenix head to head on Friday, while host Penn and Navy went 1-2. The Black Bears return home to host USCAA opponent the University of Maine-Augusta at the Pit on Skip Chappelle Court in Orono on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
Maine senior guard Quion Burns had a game-high 21 points (19 in the second half) on Sunday afternoon, to lead the Black Bears to a 71-66 win over Navy in the final day of the Cathedral Classic Invitational in Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of UMaine Athletics
In the women’s game at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana- The Indiana Hoosiers outscored Maine 25-13 in the third quarter to break open a competitive game, and rolled to a 78-53 home victory.
Indiana (5-3) never trailed, going on an 11-3 run to start the game in the first 2:31 and would lead by as many as 11 in the opening 10 minutes. Maine closed within two on a three-pointer from Caroline Dotsey with 4:10 left in the first half, before the Hoosiers closed out the second quarter on a run of 8-2 to take a 36-28 advantage into the break. After a layup from Sarah Talon to open the third quarter for the Black Bears, the hosts would go on a spurt of 17-2 to stretch the advantage to 53-32. Maine never got closer than 18 the rest of the way, and IU would lead by as many as 27 in the fourth period.
Dotsey, coming off a career-high 26 points in a win over Stonehill College on Tuesday, led Maine in the loss with 17 points and seven rebounds. Olivia Rockwood had nine points (3-6 three-pointers), Sera Hodgson collected eight points (2-2 three-pointers), while Jaycie Christopher recorded seven points and Talon finished with six. Chloe Moore-McNeil had a game-high 22 points for Indiana out of the Big 10 Conference. Lilly Meister contributed 18 points and nine rebounds, and Yardon Garzon chipped in with 11 points. Maine is now 3-5 and makes a two hour trip to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on another Big 10 opponent in the Purdue Boilmakers on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Maine sophomore forward Caroline Dotsey had a team-high 17 points on Sunday afternoon, in a 78-53 Black Bears loss in Bloomington against Indiana. Photo courtesy of UMaine Athletics
