BANGOR, Maine — It was as though Long Island University Brooklyn had thrown a switch.
Any offensive difficulties it had experienced in the first half quickly dissipated once the Blackbirds re-emerged for the second half.
LIU Brooklyn went 7-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half and picked apart the University of Maine’s man-to-man defense while pulling away for an 83-70 men’s basketball victory in front of a small crowd at the Cross Insurance Center on Tuesday night.
“Our effort defensively, especially in the second half, was just atrocious,” said UMaine coach Bob Walsh. “You can’t guard people the way we guard people and expect to win. Our investment level, our commitment level, our effort, our teamwork, our speed, our ability — all of that has to improve and ultimately it’s my responsibility.”
The Black Bears slipped to 1-7 while the Blackbirds earned their first victory of the season after losing their first six games.
Junior guard Shaun Lawton paced UMaine with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists while sophomore Garet Beal of Beals Island tallied 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Zarko Valjarevic scored 12 points for the Black Bears, who shot 42 percent overall but wound up being outrebounded 38-30.
Elvar Fridriksson poured in 19 points and provided five rebounds, seven assists and two steals to propel the Blackbirds, while Landon Atterberry contributed 16 points, and seven rebounds.
Iverson Fleming netted 11 points and Martin Gerrell had 10 points and six rebounds. Brooklyn shot 61 percent (17-for-28) from the field in the second half and finished at 50 percent for the game.
The Blackbirds surged out of the locker room at halftime and manufactured a 14-2 flurry that turned a four-point deficit into a 42-36 lead with 16:08 remaining.
“The second half to start the half we did a better job defensively,” said LIU Brooklyn coach Jack Perri. “Offensively, I thought we moved the ball well. We shot the lights out.”
Brooklyn’s ability to knock down 3-pointers helped fuel the fire during the burst that put the visitors in charge. The Blackbirds went 6-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc after having made only three of 10 in the first half.
Fleming had three of those to give Brooklyn a big boost.
Fridriksson opened the run with a 3-pointer, then teammate Atterberry answered a driving layup by Aaron Calixte with another bomb. Nura Zanna’s low-post basket, a short jumper by Atterberry and two Zanna foul shots gave Brooklyn a 42-36 lead.
Perri said that UMaine’s decision to apply 1-2-2 zone pressure in the backcourt might actually have helped the Blackbirds develop a better offensive rhythm.
“Their pressure kind of opened things up for us and we were able to get some flow off of that,” Perri said. “We kept running our entries (passes) pretty well and got some good looks off those, too.”
The visitors kept their foot on the gas as Gerrell Martin and Iveson Fleming canned 3-pointers and the Blackbirds extended the advantage to 50-40 at the 13:56 mark.
The problems continued for the Black Bears, who were unable to pick up Brooklyn shooters in transition. The Blackbirds went on another extended run, this one 16-4, to make the lead 66-49 with 9:17 to play.
“We’ve got to work harder defensively, that’s where it starts with us,” Lawton said. “Putting the ball in the basket’s not a problem. We’ve just got to buckle down and get stops.”
The Black Bears took a tenuous 34-30 lead into the locker room at intermission after neither team was able to take control during the first 20 minutes.
It was full-court, man-to-man defense from end line to end line for both teams in what was an even half. UMaine shot 41 percent from the floor but knocked down six 3-pointers, including three by Valjarevic.
The Black Bears also outrebounded Brooklyn 19-17.
It was almost exclusively a half-court game as both teams worked the ball around trying to get shooters open. UMaine appeared to expend more energy on defense, playing aggressively over the top of ball screens, which meant considerable recovery time for those players to get back into position.
But Brooklyn really was not able to capitalize, making only three of 10 shots from beyond the arc.
UMaine was without freshman guard Kevin Little for the fourth consecutive game as he continues to recover from an ankle injury.