|
Men's Basketball Falls to Albany 71-55
Feb. 7, 2007
ORONO, Maine-- The University of Maine men's basketball team dropped a 71-55 decision to defending America East Champion Albany on Wednesday night in Orono, Maine. The Black Bears fall to 11-13 on the season with the loss and even their record to 6-6 in America East play. Albany, who has now won eight in a row, improves to 18-7 overall and 11-2 in conference play. Kevin Reed (Yarmouth, Mass.) was named the America East Player of the Game for Maine. He finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jamar Wilson was named the America East Player of the Game for Albany. He led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Wilson also had six assists and one block. Maine jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Albany was able to get on the scoreboard with a trey by Jason Siggers. Albany took an 13-10 lead when Jamar Wilson drained a three-pointer with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half. Maine tied the game at 16-16 when Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y.) made a steal at half court and went in for a fast-break layup. The two teams continued to trade leads the next few minutes. Albany used a 12-3 run to end the first half. Brent Wilson led Albany during the run with six points. The Great Danes took a 37-25 lead into halftime. Maine was led by Bernal who had eight points in the first half. Kevin Reed, Chris Bruff (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine) each chipped in with five. Albany was led by Jamar Wilson who had 12 points in the first half for the Great Danes. Maine opened the second half on a 5-0 run to pull to within seven points at 37-30, forcing Albany to take a timeout. Bruff had a pair of hoops for Maine during the run. Albany answered with a three-pointer by Brent Wilson after the timeout.
Maine pulled to within six points when Reed drained a three-point field goal with just under 15 minutes remaining in the game. Philippe Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon) then hit a layup to pull Maine to within four points at 42-38. Trailing by just four points, Maine saw Albany use an 18-6 run to put the game out of reach. Jamar Wilson had nine points for the Great Danes during the run, while Brian Connelly and Brian Lillis each chipped in with four. Maine ended the Albany run with a layup by Junior Bernal with just 3:44 remaining in the game. The Black Bears, however, could only get as close as 13 points the rest of the game. Bruff led Maine with 13 points and five rebounds. He also had three steals, two blocks and one assist. Reed added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Bernal finished with 10 points. Mark Socoby had six points for the Black Bears, while Jordan Cook (Hampden, Maine) chipped in with a career-high five points. Jamar Wilson led Albany with 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Brent Wilson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Brian Lillis added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Great Danes. The Black Bears return to action on Sunday, February 11 when they travel to Binghamton for a 1 p.m. game with the Bearcats. Maine returns home on Wednesday, February 14 when it hosts Vermont at 8 pm. -U-M- |
