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Men's Basketball Drops Close Game to UNH
Jan. 19, 2008
ORONO, Maine- The men's basketball team dropped a tough game to the New Hampshire Wildcats Saturday afternoon by the score of 81-75. With the win, New Hampshire improved to 5-12 overall, and 2-3 in America East. Maine fell to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in America East. America East Player of the Game Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine) led the Black Bears with 25 points and three rebounds. Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Illinois) led New Hampshire with 20 points. The Black Bears fell behind by six points five minutes into the game, but stormed back and went on a 21-to-11 run capped by a Phil Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon) three-pointer to take a four-point lead by the score of 30-to-26 with a little more than six minutes to play. The Wildcats came back and went on a 13-to-four run of their own to take a 39-34 lead at halftime. Maine was led in the first half by Socoby with eight points, and Kaimondre Owes (Brooklyn, New York) with six. Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine) had a solid first half as he was very active and making great cuts to the basket. McNally finished with five points and four rebounds in 10 minutes of action in the first half. New Hampshire was led by Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Massachusetts) who had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half. Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Massachusetts) added eight points and four assists for New Hampshire. Both teams shot well in the first stanza, with Maine going 13-for-27 and New Hampshire going 13-for-26. The difference being that New Hampshire went eight-of-14 from three-point range, while the Black Bears went four-of-13. Maine continued to battle hard, but the hot-shooting Wildcats went on a 21-to-11 run to open the first 10 minutes of the second half. Despite the setback, the Black Bears battled back, going on a 14-to-four run of their own, closing the gap to 64-to-59 with a little over six minutes to go in the game.
Maine continued to play hard, but could not close the gap any further, as the Wildcats then went on an eight-to-two run to put themselves just out of reach of the Black Bears. For the game, New Hampshire shot 49 percent from the field on 23-of-47 shooting. Maine shot a solid 50 percent from the field on 27-of-54 shooting. The Wildcats shot 48 percent from three-point range, while the Black Bears shot 29 percent. McNally finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Owes finished with 12 points and three rebounds. Gibbs had 19 points and five rebounds for New Hampshire while Abreu had 15 points and seven rebounds. Maine returns to action on Monday night at 7:30 pm to battle the Hartford Hawks. Tickets are still available, and can be purchased by calling 581-BEAR or (800) 756-TEAM. -U-M- |
