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Turner Shines As Maine Rolls Over UMFK, 86-36
ORONO, Maine-- Ernest Turner (Camden, N.J.) scored a game-high 26 points to lead the University of Maine men's basketball team to an 86-36 win over UMaine Fort Kent on Tuesday evening in the home-opener. Maine improves to 1-2 on the young season, while the Bengals fall to 2-4.
Both team struggled shooting the basketball early in the game as Maine held a 14-5 lead with 10:06 remaining in the first half. The Black Bears heated up late in the first half and went on a 30-7 run to end the half. Ernest Turner led the way for Maine with 15 points in the first on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. He hit back-to-back jumpers to start the run. The Black Bears continued to add to their lead in the second half as they connected on 15-of-35 shots. Maine pushed the lead to 41 points with 9:32 remaining when Ernest Turner drained a three-point field goal. Ammar Harknell (Stockholm, Sweden) hit back-to-back three point field goal to give Maine the 50-point win. It is the first time that Maine has held an opponent to 36 points since defeating Albany 48-36 on February 14, 2004. The 50-point win was the largest margin of victory for the Black Bears since Nov. 23, 2002 they Maine defeated UMFK 118-61. The Black Bears featured a balanced scoring attack. Ernest Turner led the way with 26 points, four shy of his career-high. He grabbed a career-high six rebounds and recorded two steals in 25 minutes of action. Chris Bruff (Bloomfield, Conn.) scored 11 points and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds. Jon Sheets (Grass Valley, Calif.) finished with nine points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Freddy Petkus (Plunge, Lithuania) added eight points, four rebounds and three steals. Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland) added seven points, nine rebounds and a career-high four blocks for Maine, while Rashard Turner (Peekskill, N.Y.) finished with seven points. He led the team in assists with six and in steals with four. Jason Hight (Westbrook, Maine) finished with a career-high eight rebounds and tied his career-high with four assists in the game. For the second time this season, Maine blocked eight shots in the game. The Black Bears hit a season-high 11 three-point field goals in the game. Maine shot 44 percent from three-point range in the contest, and recorded 15 steals in the game. Rytis Kriunas led the way for UMaine Fort Kent as he scored 14 points and recorded four steals. The Black Bears return to action on Saturday, November 26 when they travel to Pittsburgh for a 7:30 p.m. game. Maine will then face Robert Morris on Monday, November 28 before returning home for a season-long three-game home stand. The Black Bears will kick-off the home stand on Monday, December 5 when they host Morgan State at 7:30 at Alfond Arena. -U-M-
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