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Men's Basketball Defeats Stony Brook, 64-54
Jan. 8, 2009 STONY BROOK, N.Y.--The University of Maine men's basketball defeated Stony Brook by the score of 64-54 on Thursday evening at the Stony Brook University Arena in Stony Brook, N.Y. With the win, Maine improves to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in America East play while Stony Brook falls to 8-7 and 1-2 in league play. Maine was led by America East Player of the Game Malachi Peay (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who had 12 points. The Black Bears got off to a good start, as they took a quick 7-4 lead when Mark Socoby drained a three-pointer from the right corner. Maine increased the lead as Socoby tipped the ball away as the Seawolves were on the attack, jumped out of bounds and fired a laser to Junior Bernal who grabbed it and put it in to give Maine a 13-4 lead. Maine pushed the lead to 19-6 when Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif.) found Kaimondre Owes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) on a fast break for a layup and the foul. The Black Bears pushed their lead to 15, taking a 27-12 lead on a Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine) layup with seven minutes to go in the first half. Maine continued to pressure, and after McLemore stole the ball he went to the basket and hit a nice turnaround jumper from about eight feet out to give Maine a 34-16 lead with just over three minutes to go. Stony Brook went on a run to end the half, but Maine took a 36-25 halftime lead. The Black Bears were led in the first half by Peay who had a career-high 10 points in the first stanza. Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y.) and McNally each had six points, and Bernal added three assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal. McLemore had five points and three rebounds.
Maine shot a blistering 64 percent from the field on 16-for-25 shooting while holding Stony Brook to 31 percent shooting. Maine went on a 10-to-4 run to open the second half, and was capped by a McNally three-pointer that gave the Black Bears a 46-29 lead with just under 16 minutes to go in regulation. The teams traded baskets, and the score stood at 48-31 with nine minutes left in the game. Stony Brook was able to close the gap to 55-45 with just under four minutes to go. The Seawolves made it 55-49 before Bernal was able to sink a free throw, and on the ensuing play, Stony Brook was taking a shot but McLemore swatted it hard and Bernal grabbed the rebound and threw it ahead to Socoby who made a layup to make it 58-49. After another stop, Socoby made a free throw to give Maine a 10 point lead that Stony Brook could not overcome. Maine returns to action on Saturday at UMBC at 7 p.m. -U-M- |
