There was something different about the University of Maine men’s basketball team this season.
The Black Bears showed a consistent level of fight. They exuded determination and resolve in the face of adversity.
Those qualities were not present a year earlier, but first-year head coach Bob Walsh and his staff came in and have begun changing the culture of the program.
On paper, the 2014-15 season will go down as the worst in UMaine history. The Black Bears finished with a 3-27 record, including a 2-14 mark in America East play.
The team suffered through a 13-game losing streak, the longest in program history, and ended the campaign with six straight setbacks, including an 83-66 America East quarterfinal loss to Albany. That marked UMaine’s 10th consecutive postseason defeat since 2005.
But when UMaine fans and players look back on this winter, they may view it as the season the Black Bears began pouring a new foundation on which to build the program.
Almost any team that incurs a coaching change, especially after significant roster turnover, is likely to face significant challenges. UMaine did.
Walsh made it clear that his team will be a hardworking and relentless unit on defense. It was a hard lesson to learn for UMaine, which statistically had the worst defense in the conference.
In regular-season league games, UMaine allowed 70.6 points per contest and opponents shot 47 percent from the field. Those numbers belie the team’s intensity and effort at the defensive end, especially among its corps of guards.
That group included junior Shaun Lawton, senior Zarko Valjarevic, freshmen Kevin Little and Aaron Calixte, sophomore Troy Reid-Knight and freshman Garvey Melmed of Greenbush.
Where UMaine struggled defensively was in the post, where injuries, attrition and inexperience made the team vulnerable.
Junior Till Gloger was the only real presence in the post after senior Ethan Mackey quit in December, sophomore forward Marko Pirovic suffered a season-ending foot injury and sophomore Garet Beal of Beals Island went down with a fractured rib and missed the last 11 games.
Sophomore Christian Ejiga contributed some minutes as did classmate Erik Nissen. However, UMaine lacked muscle and experience in the paint and often went with four guards on the floor.
The Black Bears had their share of offensive weapons. Little burst onto the scene as the leading scorer (12.5 points per game), shooting 39 percent from the 3-point arc.
Gloger was a polished performer in the paint, shooting 53 percent on his way to 11.5 ppg in addition to 4.8 rebounds per game. Lone senior Valjarevic received a lot of defensive attention but posted 10 ppg while shooting 34 percent from distance.
Lawton (9.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg) had his best season at UMaine, improving his production and efficiency, while freshman Calixte (7.3 ppg) logged a team-high 31.9 minutes per game at the point, exhibiting tremendous confidence and poise, and he finished with 101 assists (3.4 apg).
The loss of Beal (6.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Pirovic (7.1 ppg, 4.8), who appeared in only nine games, plagued the front-court’s woes.
Reid-Knight (6.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg) was solid coming off the bench, and former Old Town standout Melmed walked on and earned a scholarship with his effort and basketball IQ, despite providing little statistically.
Ejiga and Nissen were not able to establish themselves consistently in the lineup but did contribute some good minutes. Sophomore walk-on C.J. Ward played in three games before suffering a broken ankle that ended his season.
As the veterans head into postseason workouts aware of Walsh’s expectations, UMaine hopes to benefit from the influx of its recruits, including 6-foot-6-inch forward Devine Eke of Plainfield, New Jersey, 6-7 Serbian forward Ilija Stojilkovic out of Lee Academy and 6-2 guard Levar Harewood of Brooklyn, New York.