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Maine Men's Basketball Final Release
April 5, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
The University of Maine men's basketball team concluded the 2005-06 season on Saturday, March 4 at the America East Tournament. The Black Bears, who finished tied for sixth in the regular season standings, got the seventh seed in the tournament. Maine gave host and second seed Binghamton a run, but in the end fell just short. A LOOK BACK: Maine ended the 2005-06 season with a 62-71 loss to Binghamton in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament. Both teams started tentatively and Binghamton held a 6-4 lead 5:32 into the game. The two teams continued to trade baskets before Binghamton went on an 8-2 run to take a 20-9 lead. The Black Bears ended the first half on a 12-5 run to cut the Binghamton lead to 25-21. Ernest Turner (Camden, N.J.) had eight straight points for Maine during the run, while Freddy Petkus (Plunge, Lithuania) hit a three-point field goal and was fouled in the act and converted the free throw for a four point play. Binghamton had the ball at the end of the half, but Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland) blocked Giovanni Olomo's shot. Ernest Turner opened the second half with a three-pointer to pull to within one point. The Black Bears tied the game when Philippe Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon) got a hoop at 17:26. The Bearcats then pushed their lead to as many as eight points, but Maine answered with a run to pull to within one point, 43-44 with 9:25 to play after Jon Sheets (Grass Valley, Calif.) drained a three-point field goal. Binghamton then went on a run and tried to put the game out of reach. The Bearcats built their lead to 59-48 with 3:10 remaining in the game. Maine made a late run and cut the deficit to six points, but that is as close as it could get. Rashard Turner (Peekskill, N.Y.) led Maine with 19 points, with all 19 coming in the second half. He also had a team-high five assists in the game. Ernest Turner finished with 15 points, while Freddy Petkus added 11 points. Olli Ahvenniemi added six points, a team-high seven rebounds and two blocks. THE MAINE BLACK BEARS: Maine was led in 2005-06 by Ernest Turner who averaged 15.2 points per game and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per contest. He finished with a team-best 1.3 steals per game. Rashard Turner averaged 10.8 points per game and a team-leading 2.9 assists per game. Philippe Tchekane Bofia added 9.4 points per game and 5.5 rebounds a game as a rookie. Jon Sheets also added 9.4 points per game, 2.8 assists per game and 1.3 steals per game. He led Maine with 66 three-point field goals on the season. Chris Bruff added 6.5 points per game and 4.3 rebounds a contest. Olli Ahvenniemi chipped in with 5.9 points per game. He led Maine with 6.3 rebounds a contest and 2.6 blocks per game. Maine averaged 64.7 points per game, while its opponents scored 68.1 points per game. The Black Bears shot 41.4 percent from the floor, while its opponents connected 42.6 percent of the time. TURNER, AHVENNIEMI AND TCHEKANE BOFIA HONORED: Senior Ernest Turner was named to the America East Second Team, while Olli Ahvenniemi was named to the America East All-Defensive Team. Philippe Tchekane Bofia was named to the America East All-Rookie Team. Turner led Maine in scoring for the second year in a row. He also led the team in steals. Ahvenniemi averaged 5.9 points per game, 6.3 rebounds a contest and 2.6 blocks per game. He led America East and finished 21st in the nation in blocked shots per game. Tchekane Bofia averaged 9.4 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game as a freshman. He was named America East Rookie of the Week three times. AHVENNIEMI NAMED TO AMERICA EAST WINTER ALL-ACADEMIC SQUAD: University of Maine junior Olli Ahvenniemi was named to the America East Winter All-Academic squad. Each All-Academic team was selected based on the student-athlete's academic and athletic accomplishments. Joining Ahvenniemi on the men's basketball team are Boston University's Shaun Wynn, UMBC's Jerrell Dinkins and Brian Hodges and Vermont's Martin Klimes. TURNER NAMED CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ernest Turner was named America East Co-Player of the Week on Monday, February 27. He shares the honor with Hartford's Kenny Adeleke. Turner averaged 21.0 points and five rebounds and led Maine to a pair of wins. Turner hit a half-court shot as time expired to give Maine a 69-66 win over UMBC. He had 23 points in the game and followed that up with 19 points at Stony Brook. He hit nine three-point field goals on the week. SHEETS, Ernest Turner AMONG THREE-POINT LEADERS: Jon Sheets and Ernest Turner are among the single season three-point field goal leaders at Maine. Sheets finished with 66 three-point field goals which ranks seventh on the list. Ernest Turner finished 11th on the single season list with 57 in 28 games.
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