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Men's Basketball Hosts Stony Brook on Senior Day
Feb. 24, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
The University of Maine men's basketball team plays its final game of the regular season when it hosts Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon. Maine is coming off a 77-80 loss at UMBC on Thursday night. Stony Brook is coming off a 46-66 loss to Albany on Thursday. Before the game on Sunday, Maine will honor its four seniors; Jon Sheets (Grass Valley, Calif.), Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland), Chris Bruff (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Kevin Reed (Yarmouth, Mass.) All four seniors have been integral to Maine's success the past few years. A LOOK BACK: The University of Maine dropped a 77-80 decision to UMBC on Thursday night. Maine jumped out to an early 8-2 lead with 14:37 remaining in the first half. Chris Bruff scored six of Maine's first eight points. The Black Bears extended their lead to 26-16 when Reed drained his second three-point field goal of the half with 8:11 remaining. With that trey, Reed tied Tony Orciari (Vermont 1997-2001) for third place on the America East career three-point field goal list with 305.UMBC responded and pulled to within four points at 30-26 with 3:49 left in the first half. The Retrievers took their first lead of the game when Tom Young hit a hoop with under three minutes to play in the first half. UMBC took a 37-34 lead into halftime.UMBC opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 44-36 lead. The Retrievers pushed their lead to 10 points at 51-41 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the game.Maine used a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to just five points, but UMBC answered back with a three-point field goal by Brian Hodges. The Black Bears cut the lead to six points after Jon Sheets was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointers and was able to convert two free throws with 7:34 to play in the game. UMBC was able to push the lead back to double digits minutes later. Every time, however, Maine would respond. The Black Bears cut the lead to five points after a Sheets three-point field goal and a pair of Reed free throws. The Black Bears got to within three points after a second pair of Reed free throws with just under four minutes remaining in the game. The Retrievers answered back with a hoop.Maine pulled to within one point when Philippe Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon) drained a three-point field goal just under 30 seconds remaining in the game. Tom Young then converted a pair of free throws to give UMBC an 80-77 lead with just 24 seconds remaining in the game. Maine had a pair of shots to tie the game in the final seconds, but both shots just missed. ?Reed paced Maine with 24 points and five rebounds. Chris Bruff added 14 points and six rebounds, while Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y.) chipped in with 12 points and six steals. Sheets had seven assists for the Black Bears. SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Kevin Reed who is averaging 14.2 points per game. He is pulling down a team-high 6.0 rebounds a game. Reed is tied for the team-lead with 72 three-point field goals on the season. Jon Sheets is chipping in with 10.7 points per game. He is averaging a team-high 3.1 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game. Sheets is tied for the team-lead with 72 three-point field goals on the season. Chris Bruff is scoring 10.4 points per game and grabbing 5.8 rebounds a contest. Junior Bernal is scoring 10.0 points per game. He is dishing out 2.9 assists per game and grabbing 1.7 steals per game. Philippe Tchekane Bofia is averaging 7.3 points per game and 3.7 rebounds a game. Rookie Mark Socoby is adding 6.9 points per game.Maine is shooting 42.0 percent from the floor, while its opponents are connecting 42.5 percent of the time. The Black Bears are grabbing 34.2 rebounds per game, while their opponents are pulling down 36.2 per contest. REED AMONG ALL-TIME SCORING LEADERS: Kevin Reed ranks third on Maine's all-time scoring list. He has 1,577 career points in 117 career games. He became the seventh player in Maine history to score 1,500 points when he drained a three-point field goal on Wed., Feb. 7 against Albany. REED TO BREAK GAMES PLAYED MARK: Kevin Reed is expected to break the Maine record for career games played on Sunday. He will play in his 118th career game, breaking Deonte Hursey's mark of 117. REED DRAINS 300TH TREY: Kevin Reed hit his 300th career three-point field goal on Wednesday, Feb. 14 against Vermont. He currently has 307 in his career. DOING THE DISHES: Jon Sheets dished out a career-high seven assists on Thursday at UMBC. Sheets leads Maine with 87 assists on the season. WINNING ON THE ROAD: Maine is 7-9 on the road this season, including 4-4 in America East road games. That is a dramatic improvement over a year ago when Maine finished the season 3-11 on the road. HONORING MAINE'S SENIORS: Sunday will be the final home game for four Maine seniors. Jon Sheets, Olli Ahvenniemi, Chris Bruff and Kevin Reed will all play their final regular season game at Alfond Arena. All have been key parts of Maine's success the past four years. THEFT ON THE COURT: Junior Bernal recorded a career-high six steals on Thursday at UMBC. Bernal's previous high was five steals in a game against the College of St. Joseph earlier this season. STRONG ON THE BOARDS: Chris Bruff was strong on the boards on Saturday, Feb. 3 when he pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds. He had seven rebounds in each half. His previous career high for rebounds was 12 against Binghamton earlier this season. Maine outrebounded UNH 41-26 in the game. ONE-ONE PUNCH: Jon Sheets and Kevin Reed rank tied for first in America East in three-point field goals made. Both Sheets and Reed have 72 three-point field goals on the season.
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