The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams took on Bryant University in America East play on Saturday afternoon. The women hosted the Bulldogs in the home conference opener, while the men would open up their America East schedule on the road in Rhode Island.
In the women’s game in Orono inside the Pit at Skip Chappelle Court- Paula Gallego had a career-high 23 points, and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter to give Maine the lead for good as the Black Bears put five players in double figures in pulling away from Bryant in the home conference opener 87-64.
Maine used a 10-0 first quarter run for an early eight point lead, before Bryant would even the score late in the period at 16-16 helped by six points from Ali Bringham. Gallego (5-7 three-pointers) then buried a three as the opening stanza was expiring to put the Black Bears ahead to stay. The advantage would grow to 16 at the halftime break on another buzzer beating three-pointer by Olivia Rockwood to make it 41-25, as Maine outscored the Bulldogs 22-9 in the second and shot 59.3% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes (62.5% from three-point range).
Bryant cut the deficit in half to eight on a jumper by Breezie Williams halfway through the third quarter, but Maine went to the fourth with an 11-point advantage. The Black Bears really put it away in the first 2:44 of the final period with a 9-1 run to push it out to a 19 point lead. The hosts would later build the biggest lead of the day at 28, scoring 28 points in the final 10 minutes in winning their 15th straight America East game on their home floor.
Gallego (9-12 field goals) also chipped in five assists, three rebounds, one blocked shot, and one steal to along with her game-high and career-high in points. Caroline Bornemann had 20 points and nine rebounds, while Asta Blauenfeldt (13 points), Sera Hodgson (11), and Sarah Talon (10) also all finished in double figures. For the game, Maine shot 62.5% (35-56) overall and 60% (9-15) from the three-point arc in winning their ninth straight game head to head over Bryant. Bringham led the Bulldogs with 16 points, while Mia Mancini, Maranda Nyborg, and Martina Boba each put in 10 points. Bryant falls to 8-7 and 1-1 in America East and will play at Vermont next Saturday. The Black Bears improve to 6-8 overall and 2-0 in the conference and will head back on the road to take on Binghamton on Thursday at 6:07 p.m.
All videos and photos on these recaps are by Chris Lessner
In the men’s game at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island- Bryant used a run of 35-6 over the course of 15:30, turning a lead of one point in the first half into a 30 point second half advantage in rolling past Maine 81-55 in the America East opener.
Maine led by eight at 18-10 on a layup by Ridvan Tutic 6:46 into the first half, but it was all Bryant after that. An 8-0 run capped off by a three-pointer by Kvonn Cramer tied it, and then the Bulldogs took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Earl Timberlake 1:20 later. They blew it open with the score 23-22, outscoring the Black Bears 15-3 over the final 7:14 of the first half to extend to a 38-25 lead at the break. They continued the onslaught to begin the second 20 minutes with a run of 20-3 (35-6 overall) ballooning to a 58-28 advantage with 11:44 left to play, as Maine never got closer than 19 the rest of the way.
AJ Lopez (8-13 field goals) led the way in the loss with 24 points (4-6 three-pointers). No other Maine players got into double figures. Logan Carey had nine points, Kellen Tynes added seven points and four steals, and Tutic finished with six points. Maine shot just 34% (18-53) from the floor, falling to 8-8 overall and now 0-1 in America East in losing their third straight game. Timberlake and Barry Evans had 18 points each in the win for Bryant, with Timberlake recording a double double with 13 rebounds. Cramer also put in 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The Bulldogs improve to 7-9 (1-0 in the conference). The Black Bears will open up the home portion of the America East schedule when they host Binghamton on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Pit on Skip Chappelle Court in Orono.
