First-year University of Maine men’s basketball coach Bob Walsh didn’t mince his words when discussing his cold-shooting team’s 74-51 loss to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, Saturday afternoon.
Even though his team trailed just 44-38 with 15:31 left in the game, Walsh said, “It was never a close game despite what the score may have said at certain points.
“We were thoroughly beaten from tap to buzzer,” added Walsh. “Our approach is unacceptable … the way we compete, the mentality that we have and the toughness we play with. It’s not good enough. It has to change and it will.”
Forward Zarko Valjarevic, Maine’s only senior, agreed.
“It was definitely an unacceptable performance. It was embarrassing,” said Valjarevic, who was held to just three points, six below his average, on 1-for-8 shooting from the field. “As a senior and a leader, I was embarrassed with the way I played. And, as a team, we played bad.
“They were much better than we were,” added Valjarevic.
Maine trailed 40-29 at the half, but used a 9-4 run to pull within six.
Troy Reid-Knight’s layup with 15:31 capped the rally.
But the Black Bears wouldn’t score another basket until Aaron Calixte hit a jump shot with 3:42 remaining as the Big Green went on a 23-2 run.
Maine missed 13 shots from the floor and turned the ball over six times during the drought.
Junior forward Brandon McDonnell had seven points during the decisive spurt for Dartmouth and junior guard Alex Mitola hit a pair of three-pointers.
Maine wound up shooting 32 percent from the floor (16-for-50) including a dismal 2-for-21 percent from beyond the three-point arc (9.5 percent).
The Big Green shot 49.1 percent from the floor (26-for-53) and 40.9 percent from three-point land (9-for-22).
The Big Green also outrebounded Maine 40-30 en route to its second win in six contests.
Maine fell to 1-6.
Dartmouth never trailed in the game as Mitola’s three-pointer broke a 2-2 tie and triggered an 11-4 run.
Maine never got closer than five the rest of the way.
Mitola finished with a game-high 18 points and he also dished out four assists.
Junior forward Connor Boehm scored 15 points and hauled down seven rebounds. He also had three assists.
Kevin Crescenzi had nine points and five rebounds with Taylor Johnson contributing nine points. Maldunas finished with seven points and seven rebounds along with four assists.
Sophomore guard Reid-Knight was the only Black Bear in double figures with 11 points. He also had five rebounds.
Sophomore forward Christian Ejiga came off the bench to score eight points and grab a game-high eight rebounds. Till Gloger also had eight points and Shaun Lawton had seven. Calixte had a team-high four assists.
Maine will host Long Island University-Brooklyn on Tuesday night at 7 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.