All nine Maine players that got time on the court on Saturday afternoon would get into the scoring column led by 21 points from TJ Biel, as the Black Bears men’s basketball team picked up their first America East win of the season with a 74-70 victory over the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) at Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness & Events Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The Black Bears would grab their biggest lead of the afternoon in the first half. Tied at 11-11, Maine went on a 14-3 run capped off by a three-pointer from Ace Flagg for a 25-14 advantage with 8:38 left. The guests took a 37-29 lead into the break. The Highlanders came out strong to begin the second half with a 14-0 run to jump back ahead 43-37 with 15:48 left. Six was the largest lead for NJIT, as the Black Bears would respond and eventually went back on top for good by going on a 9-0 spurt of their own. Two free throws from Flagg, a layup by Logan Carey, a dunk from Keelan Steele, and a three-pointer by Biel would make it 60-56 with 7:00 remaining. Maine would go 7-8 at the free throw line over the final 3:05 to help secure the victory.
Sebastian Robinson led all scorers by putting in 24 points in the loss for NJIT. Jordan Rogers, David Bolden, and John Kelly would contribute nine points a piece. The Highlanders fall to 7-11 and 2-1 in America East. Biel was 7-13 (4-9 three-pointers) from the floor for Maine in the win. Yanis Bamba had a big game off the bench as he had a season-high 14 points (5-8 FG, 3-4 three-pointers) to go along with five rebounds. Carey would finish with 11 points, while Flagg matched a season-high for points as he had 10 and also grabbed seven boards. As a team, they shot 53.3% from the floor and 9-20 (45%) from the three-point arc. The Black Bears are now 3-15 and 1-2 in conference play and will travel to Vermont to battle the Catamounts next Thursday at 7 p.m.
Featured photo of Yanis Bamba from a game earlier this season
