January 22, 2013. That is the last time Maine men’s basketball beat Vermont in a home game. That changed on Thursday night as the Black Bears built a 20 point lead, and then held off the Catamounts 76-70 in America East action on Skip Chappelle Court at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono ending an 11-game home skid to UVM.
The Black Bears only trailed once and very briefly 1:06 into the game (4-3), before a three-pointer by TJ Biel a minute later would put them on top for good. Maine would end the first half on a 13-2 run capped off by a three-pointer by Mekhi Gray to extend their advantage to 38-24 at the break. A pair of free throws by Amare Allen made it 47-27 with 17:25 remaining, before the visiting Catamounts would come roaring back. Down by 15 with 12:07 to go, Vermont went a spurt of 13-4 over the next 6:26 to slice it to 60-54 with still 5:36 left on the clock. The hosts regained some distance when Ryan Mabrey and Caleb Crawford both drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions, and despite UVM getting within five in the final minute the Black Bears were able to hold on for the win.
TJ Hurley lit it up in the Vermont loss with a game-high 27 points (8-12 FG, 6-9 three-pointers). TJ Long added 13 points and Gus Yalden had 12. The Catamounts, who had a 30 game win streak over Maine prior to last seasons conference semifinals, has now lost two of the last three to the Black Bears. UVM drops to 14-10 and 6-3 in America East. Crawford led Maine with 21 points (6-7 FG, 3-4 three-pointers, 6-6 at foul line). Biel (7-12 FG) and Gray (6-11 FG) both finished with 17 points and combined to shoot 13-23 from the floor, as the team shot 57.8% overall (10-18, 55.6% from the three-point arc). The Black Bears are now 6-18 and 4-5 in league play and will travel to Rhode Island on Saturday to take on Bryant at 4 p.m.
Photo courtesy of UMaine Athletics
