BANGOR, Maine — There has been a losing feeling surrounding the University of Maine men’s basketball team.
It existed before the arrival of head coach Bob Walsh and his staff in 2014, and it has carried over, at least in part, into the 2015-16 season.
Walsh’s goal upon the return of the Black Bears to practice earlier this week was to find a way to change the lingering stench of losing in a program that has gone 32-101 since posting its last winning record of 19-11 during the 2009-10 season.
“I felt like I haven’t done a good enough job of changing that mentality,” Walsh said after UMaine’s 98-95 overtime victory over Quinnipiac on Tuesday night at the Cross Insurance Center.
“There’s a comfort level with losing around our program,” he said. “It’s not [the players’] fault. It’s a subconscious acceptance of losing.”
The Black Bears’ performance against the Bobcats would appear to demonstrate that the dynamic is changing. UMaine (3-9) battled through 45 minutes of back-and-forth action that included 14 ties and 20 lead changes.
In fact, the Black Bears watched an eight-point lead evaporate during the last six minutes of regulation but never appeared to relinquish their desire to win, nor the ability to make enough plays to get it done.
“You don’t win a game like that without believing in yourself, believing in each other, believing in your team,” Walsh said.
“It would have been an easy time [after squandering the lead] to just fold and say, ‘Here we go again,’ and our guys didn’t do that.”
Walsh and the players hope Tuesday’s effort is a definitive sign that UMaine believes that it can win and isn’t afraid to play with confidence, rather than with a fear of losing.
Perhaps the most telling moment of the contest came with 23.5 seconds remaining in overtime. Leading 90-88 and running down the shot clock and the game clock, Walsh called a play for Shaun Lawton.
The senior guard slashed through the Quinnipiac defense to the basket for a lay-in that made it a four-point game. When the Bobcats called timeout, an exuberant UMaine bench emptied to greet Lawton, who had fallen to the floor.
“That shows how together our team is,” said senior forward Till Gloger. “Everyone is bought in. [Whether] somebody plays or not, everybody believes, and I think we really grew as a team, which maybe wasn’t the case over the last years since I’m here.”
Lawton had sat out six games after being suspended for failing to meet team standards.
As they prepare for Saturday’s 2 p.m. nonconference finale against Brown in Bangor, the Black Bears must take their restored collective self-confidence and put it into practice moving forward.
“That’s the next step for this program. We’ve proven we’re capable, now we’ve got to respond,” Walsh said.