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Ernest Turner Hits Half Court Shot at Buzzer to Beat UMBC
Feb. 23, 2006
ORONO, Maine- Ernest Turner (Camden, N.J.) hit a half court shot as time expired to break a 66-66 tie and lead the University of Maine men's basketball team past UMBC on Senior Night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. The shot capped a huge comeback for the Black Bears who trailed by as many as 20 points in the game. Maine improves to 11-15 on the season and 6-9 in America East play, while UMBC falls to 9-17 overall and 5-10 in conference play. UMBC started the game on a 10-0 run before Maine was able to get on the scoreboard with an Ernest Turner jumper. The Retrievers continued to add to their lead as they went on a 11-4 run to push their lead to 33-15. Freddy Petkus (Plunge, Lithuania) stopped the run with a three-point field goal with 3:05 remaining in the half. The Retrievers took a 36-20 lead into halftime. UMBC opened the second half on a 4-0 run to push their lead to 20 points at 40-20 before the Black Bears took over the game. Maine went on a 15-2 run sparked by five three-point field goals. Ernest Turner had three three-pointers, while Jon Sheets (Grass Valley, Calif.) had a pair. Petkus had assists on four of the five three-pointers. Maine then went on a 14-2 run to grab a three-point lead. Rashard Turner (Peekskill, N.Y.) highlighted the second run with eight points, including a pair of three-point field goals. Jason Hight (Westbrook, Maine) and Ernest Turner both also had three-point field goals for Maine during the run with Ernest Turner's giving Maine a 54-51 lead.
The Black Bears built their lead to as many as seven points when Chris Bruff (Bloomfield, Conn.) scored on a layup with 6:51 remaining. UMBC would not go away, however, and continued to chip away at Maine's lead. A Mike Housman layup with 3:59 lead cut the lead to one point at 60-59. Back-to-back hoops by Rashard Turner and Ernest Turner gave Maine a 66-60 lead. The Retrievers scored six straight points to tied the game. Chris Pugh hit a three-point field goal with just two seconds remaining to knot the game at 66-66. With the game looking like it would head to overtime, Ernest Turner sent the Maine crowd home happy with his heroics at the buzzer. Maine was led by Ernest Turner who scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Rashard Turner added 17 points. Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland) had seven points, six rebounds and four blocks, while Sheets had six points and six assists. UMBC was led by Jerrell Dinkins who had 19 points and seven rebounds, while John Zito chipped in with 18 points and seven rebounds as well. Maine, which shot just 9.1 percent from three-point range in the first half, hit 78.6 percent of its three-point shots in the second half as it connected on 11-of-14 shots. The Black Bears finished the game with 12 three-pointers. Before the game, Maine honored seniors Ernest Turner and Freddy Petkus who played their final home game at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears return to action on Sunday, February 26 when they travel to Stony Brook for a 1:00 p.m. game. -U-M- |
