Building early leads rarely has been the issue for the University of Maine men’s basketball team since the start of America East play earlier this month.
Maintaining them for the full 40 minutes of play is the next step toward upward mobility for the rebuilding Black Bears.
Stony Brook University was the latest to mount a comeback against UMaine, rallying from an 16-point halftime deficit to frustrate the upset-minded Black Bears 64-61 at the Cross Insurance Center on Saturday afternoon.
Stony Brook improved to 16-3 overall, 4-0 in conference play while UMaine dipped to 3-17 and 1-4.
“It was a tale of two halves, and give them a lot of credit, they dictated what we did offensively in the first half,” said Stony Brook coach Jeff Boals, whose team was outscored 33-17 over the first 20 minutes before outscoring the Black Bears 47-28 after the break.
“They played great in the first half and I thought we played great in the second half. We feel fortunate to get out of here with a win.”
With the exception of a 17-point halftime deficit in its loss to Vermont, UMaine has held leads averaging 11.8 points at intermission of its conference matchups against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Albany, Hartford and now Stony Brook. The Albany game is the Black Bears’ lone AE victory to date.
UMaine’s 33-17 lead over Stony Brook was the biggest of the bunch, but when the Seawolves — who missed all nine of their first-half 3-point tries — made their first two in the second half, the comeback was on.
“Two things happened,” said UMaine coach Richard Barron. “Defensively we didn’t have the same energy for the second game in a row when we had a big lead, and in the second half we just didn’t dictate in the same way we had been doing.
“Second, when you’re not doing that, you’re giving them just a little more room, a little more space, and then they get a little rhythm going on some of their shots.”
Stony Brook’s second 3-pointer of the second half, by Miles Latimer, came after UMaine had taken its largest lead at 38-20 on a drive and a 3-pointer by Sergio El Darwich. His 3sparked a 14-0 run that narrowed the gap to 38-34 with 13:20 to play.
Three-pointers by El Darwich and freshman guard Terion Moss of Portland restored UMaine to a 44-34 cushion before Stony Brook used runs of seven and 10 points to gain control. A 3-pointer by Olaniyi gave the Seawolves the lead for good at 48-47 with 7:45 to play.
Stony Brook struggled to put the Black Bears away despite limiting UMaine to just three field goals in the final 10:26.
Akwasi Yeboah followed Elijah Olaniyi’s go-ahead basket with a fadeaway baseline jumper and 6-foot-11 center Jeff Otchere slammed down two straight dunks before Yeboah added a 3-pointer as the Stony Brook lead grew to 57-48 with 3:25 left.
UMaine scratched back within 60-56 when Moss made a free throw with 58.8 seconds to play and had the ball again but came up empty on two long 3-point tries. Latimer made one free throw and Olaniyi hit two from the line to make it a three-possession game with 16 seconds left.
Olaniyi paced Stony Brook’s offense with 14 points while Yeboah added 12, all in the second half. Point guard Jason Cornish had six points, eight rebounds and 10 assists with no turnovers for the Seawolves while Otchere had 11 points and five of his team’s eight blocked shots.
Moss scored a game-high 23 points, including six 3-pointers, and did not commit a turnover in 40 minutes at point guard. El Darwich added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Black Bears, who had a shortened bench with leading scorer Isaiah White sidelined due to an ankle sprain.
“They’re going to win games, they just have to figure out how to close out games and they’ll do that,” Boals said of the Black Bears. “That’s a good ballclub.”
The Seawolves entered the game not only unbeaten in America East but allowing a league-low 51 points per conference outing. They showed off that facet of their game early as Otchere rejected UMaine’s first three forays into the lane.
But the Black Bears outdefended the Stony Brook for the rest of the half, not only holding the Seawolves without a 3-pointer but to 21.7 percent (5 of 23) shooting from the field overall.
