WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Despite producing five double-figure scorers and its best shooting-performance in America East play, the University of Maine men’s basketball team could not keep up with the high-octane Hartford Hawks offense, falling 81-73 on Wednesday night at Chase Arena.
Dennis Ashley (6-for-11 FG, four 3-pointers) and Andrew Fleming (6-for-13) each tallied 16 points for the Black Bears (5-21, 3-8 AE). The game marked Fleming’s ninth career double-double, as he grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and distributed six assists.
Ashley’s 16 points are a new career high, besting his previous best of 11.
Sergio El Darwich, Vincent Eze and Isaiah White scored 10 points apiece in Maine’s second game this season with five double-figure scorers.
For Hartford (13-12, 6-4 AE), four players scored in double figures, with Travis Weatherington (22), J.R. Lynch (19), Jason Dunne (15) and George Blagojevic (12) leading the way.
Neither team led by more than eight in the first half. After the Hawks built a 23-17 lead, the Black Bears went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the contest at 24-23. Two teams swapped leads eight more times over the final 5:27 of the first half, but Hartford finished the frame on a 11-4 run to take a 41-36 advantage into the break.
The Black Bears started the second half with a 7-2 charge to tie the game at 43-43, but the Hawks later built an eight-point bulge to go on top 65-57 with 9:10 remaining. Maine trimmed the deficit to just a single point after two free throws by Eze, a Fleming layup and 3-pointer by El Darwich.
Finally, after leading 72-70 with 2:52 to play, Hartford scored six unanswered points to put the game out of reach with 25 seconds remaining.
Maine outrebounded Hartford 31-27 and shot 52 percent from the field (29-for-56), but Hartford knocked down 30 of its 52 attempts for a .577 shooting percentage.
Maine is back in action at 1 p.m. Sunday against Albany at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.