The University of Maine Mens and Womens basketball teams hosted games at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor Wednesday night. And it was a win in both games for the hosts.
In the first game of the evening, the Maine Mens team held off a late charge from visiting Holy Cross for a 55-53 win.
Maine held as much as a 14 point first half lead and led by 10 at halftime, and held on to defeat the Crusaders down the stretch.
Ryan Bernstein led Maine (3-6) with 12 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Ilker Er had 12 points and five rebounds, while Andrew Fleming chipped in seven points, six rebounds, two assists, and one blocked shot.
Malachi Alexander had a game high 16 points for Holy Cross (3-6) including six rebounds, an assist, one block, and three steals. Robert Champion contributed 13 points and eight rebounds.
Maine shot 37.5% from the floor compared to 40% for Holy Cross, but the Black Bears connected on 12 three pointers compared to just two for the visitors. The Bears committed 19 turnovers in the game, while the Crusaders only had nine.
Maine now heads to Hanover, NH to face Dartmouth College on Saturday at 2 p.m. while Holy Cross hosts Quinnipiac Sunday at 1 p.m.
In the second game of the evening, the Maine Womens team rolled to a 68-49 win over Northeastern.
Laia Sole led Maine with 16 points and four rebounds, as the Bears never trailed and led by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.
Sigi Koizar had 14 points, two assists, a blocked shot, and three steals. Koizar nailed four three point shots and has 148 in her career, surpassing Liz Wood for sixth place on the career list for three point shooting. Julie Brousseau nailed three from downtown as well finishing with 11 points.
Gabby Giacone led Northeastern (2-7) with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Huskies have now lost seven straight games after starting the season at 2-0.
Maine was out rebounded by the Huskies 47-38, but the Bears shot 43% from the floor compared to 27% for the visitors. Northeastern was only 5-26 from three point range, while Maine was 10-32.
Maine (4-5) will stay at home and host Dartmouth College Saturday at 1 p.m., while Northeastern takes a week off before returning to action Sunday, December 18th at Michigan State at 12 p.m.
MENS BOX SCORE
HCU (3-6) 22 31- 53
UME (3-6) 32 23- 55
WOMENS BOX SCORE
NOR (2-7) 11 11 16 11- 49
UME (4-5) 23 14 16 15- 68
