BANGOR, Maine — The University of Maine struggled mightily from the foul line during much of Tuesday night’s game against Quinnipiac.
But with the game on the line, the Black Bears made their free throws count.
Kevin Little made four free throws in the last 13.3 seconds of overtime and Aaron Calixte converted a pair, helping UMaine eke out a 98-95 men’s basketball victory at the Cross Insurance Center.
Coach Bob Walsh’s Black Bears (3-9) demonstrated plenty of heart and resolve to prevail and snap a six-game losing streak. The hosts went 9-for-9 from the foul line in overtime after making only 7 of 17 during regulation.
“We were 9-for-9 in overtime which shows a lot of guts, shows a lot of courage and shows a believe that we expect to win,” Walsh said.
“I’m really proud of the mentality that we showed,” he added.
Quinnipiac of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference slipped to 4-7.
The Black Bears easily could have lost the game, which featured 14 ties and 20 lead changes, in addition to some ebb and flow both late in regulation and during overtime. And while UMaine didn’t always execute crisply or missed an occasional defensive assignment, the team refused to compound its mistakes and instead responded with positive plays.
“We looked in overtime like we expected to win the game and hopefully that’s a good step for us and this program,” Walsh said.
Little and Till Gloger sparked the UMaine offense with 20 points each. Little also contributed four assists and three steals for the Black Bears, who shot 56 percent from the field (37-for-66) despite 16-for-26 free-throw shooting (62 percent).
Lavar Harewood tossed in 16 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Black Bears, while Ryan Bernstein netted 10 points and Devine Eke provided eight points and six assists.
Abdulai Bundu powered the Bobcats with a game-high 23 points and 15 rebounds to spearhead the visitors’ 48-31 advantage on the boards. Gionvanni McLean scored 19 points and Donovan Smith logged a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while James Ford Jr. and Ayron Hutton added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
UMaine appeared to be prepared to take control in the second half, manufacturing an extended 17-5 run over a span of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.
Eke capped off a 7-0 burst at the end of that run with a steal and a slam dunk that gave the Black Bears a 72-66 lead with 7:40 to play.
Smith sank two free throws to break the skein, but Troy Reid Knight hit a 3-pointer and Calixte answered a Bundu foul shot with an 18-foot jumper that gave UMaine its largest lead of the contest, 77-69, with 5:47 remaining.
However, Quinnipiac closed out regulation with an 11-3 run and McLean buried a 3-pointer off an inbounds play with 17.3 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Black Bears spotted the Bobcats a Hutton 3-pointer to open the extra period, but went on to rattle off a 10-3 spurt that gave them a four-point bulge. Lawton’s driving basket off a set play for him with 23.5 seconds to play gave UMaine a 92-88 advantage, elicited a Quinnipiac timeout and generated an emotional response from the Black Bears bench.
“We’ve been working really hard and we knew we were in a position to win,” Little said. “For a guy like Shaun, who’s had a lot of ups and downs this year, that was a highlight for him.”
Ford responded with another 3-pointer for Quinnipiac that cut the deficit to a single point with 14.7 seconds left, but Little and Calixte made six straight free throws and Hutton’s long heave came up short at the horn as UMaine escaped with a win.
Little, who had missed a couple of shots and made a few inopportune turnovers late in the game, was determined to help the Black Bears close it out at the foul line.
“Coach believes in me,” he said. “He puts me in a point to score and when we need a bucket, he knows he can count on me to get it done. I didn’t quite get it done tonight, I turned the ball over. Then when I went to the free-throw line, I had to make up for the turnovers and the missed shots.”
The game marked the return of redshirt sophomore Marko Pirovic, who was coming off another foot injury. He grabbed three rebounds in seven minutes.
UMaine was without junior guard Garet Beal of Beals Island, who had missed two days of practice because of an ankle ailment. Freshman forward Issac Vann also sat out for the eighth consecutive contest.
Both teams did what they do best in the first half.
UMaine pressed, ran and scored almost at will, while Quinnipiac did the vast majority of its work around the rim. The result was a 47-46 halftime edge for the Bobcats.
The first 20 minutes featured nine ties and 15 lead changes as the Black Bears and the Bobcats nearly matched each other’s offensive success.
Gloger provided the inside presence for the UMaine offense and scored 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Little also tossed in 12 points, hitting all five of his shots, including two 3-pointers.
“We introduced some new plays and we executed them,” said Gloger, who finished 8-for-11 from the floor. “Coach put me in a good position under the basket where I like to get the ball, so that really helped me to score around the rim.”
Quinnipiac dominated play close to the basket, scoring 28 of its 47 first-half points from the point. Among those were 15 second-chance points fueled by a 24-13 rebounding advantage.
In fact, the Bobcats snatched 24 of their 48 rebounds in the game at the offensive end and converted them into 27 second-chance points.
UMaine returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. with a nonleague game against Brown University.