Three nights after a season-opening visit to the outskirts of the NCAA Division I Top 25 world, the University of Maine Black Bears returned home Friday to sample the small-college end of the men’s college basketball spectrum.
That latter experience proved challenging in its own way, but eventually UMaine’s size and depth wore down the Division III University of Maine at Farmington and the Black Bears emerged with a 71-52 victory at the Cross Insurance Center.
“We focused in a little better on our defense in the second half,” UMaine coach Richard Barron said.
The Black Bears needed to wield their defensive might because they struggled at the offensive end for the second straight game.
After shooting just 32.8 percent from the field overall and 18.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in its season-opening 82-47 loss at Atlantic Coast Conference contender Virginia Tech, UMaine barely exceeded those numbers against a determined UMF squad.
The Black Bears generated 20 more shots than the Beavers but made just 36.1 percent (26 of 72) of their attempts overall and 20 percent (4 of 20) from 3-point land.
“No doubt [we] gave great effort on the defensive end,” UMF coach Sam Leal said. “You could tell that our attention to detail was excellent. Our players were very up for the opportunity and it showed on the defensive end. They communicated constantly, they made the extra-effort play constantly, and all five guys were looking to get a rebound every single time.”
Stephane Ingo paced UMaine’s attack with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots, while sophomore guard Fofo Adetogun added 11 points, LuChaun DuHart scored nine and Vukasin Masic and Milos Nenadic contributed eight points each.
“We missed some opportunities to put the hammer down and pull away because we just didn’t finish shots,” said Barron, whose team returns to Power Five competition on Monday night at the Pac-12’s University of Colorado. “We’ve got to shoot better everywhere, in the interior and in transition.”
UMF, which was playing its season opener against the Black Bears, got strong play from its two most veteran players.
Jack Kane, a 6-foot-9 senior center from Cumberland, finished with 14 points and game-high totals of 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Senior guard Terion Moss of Portland — who averaged 27 minutes per game as a freshman at UMaine before transferring to UMF — also scored 14 points, all in the first half.
“Terion obviously had a good first half,” Barron said. “We were able to lock him down in the second half, I think we clearly made that a focus.”
Playing in its first game at the Cross Center since a 74-48 victory over Maryland Baltimore County on Feb. 29, 2020, UMaine led by as many as 10 points during the first half before UMF used a 9-1 run to draw within 29-28 on a step-back 3-pointer by Moss from the right corner with 1:12 left.
Ingo answered seconds later with a slam off a lob from freshman Novak Perovic, then a steal by Ingo led to a fast-break layup by first-year guard Sam Ihekwoaba before another UMaine defensive stop led to a fast-break layup by Ihekwoaba that gave the Black Bears a 35-28 halftime cushion.
UMaine stretched its lead to 51-34 when DuHart took a pass from Adetogun off a backdoor cut and made a three-point play with 13:29 left in the contest, but UMF wasn’t done yet and drew within 56-48 on a Dylan Griffin drive with 6:46 remaining.
UMaine responded with the next 13 points to finally put the game away, a run that began with back-to-back baskets by 6-10 freshman Milos Nenadic.
“It was a great experience for our guys. It was an opportunity where our guys had it on the back of their minds all fall so our preseason preparation for it was excellent,” Leal said. “We have a very young and inexperienced group that is looking for game experience and this was a really good one for us.
“I just can’t wait to go to war with these guys all season.”
