The University of Maine men’s basketball team suffered its first double-digit America East loss of the season on Thursday night, falling to No. 2 Massachusetts-Lowell 76-62 on the road.
UMaine had previously lost to conference opponents Vermont, Maryland-Baltimore County, New Hampshire and Binghamton by seven points or fewer, and had been averaging 66.3 points scored and 67.0 points allowed in six America East conference games.
With the loss, the Black Bears’ conference record moved to 2-5 (10-12 overall), while the River Hawks’ conference record improved to 6-1 (15-5 overall). As of Thursday night’s result, UMaine is seventh in the America East standings, and UMass-Lowell is in second.
Finding themselves patently overwhelmed by the River Hawks’ quick-hitting, physical style of play, the Black Bears were outscored in the paint 48-26, lost the turnover battle 14-8 and committed 19 fouls, with junior AJ Lopez and sophomore Jaden Clayton fouling out.
“In pockets, we were guarding physically, but they just beat us up in the paint,” head coach Chris Markwood said. “I felt like Lowell kinda controlled the game for the last 20 minutes. They got in our heads.”
In the first half, UMaine made 11 of its first 21 shots to take a 25-20 lead fifteen minutes into play, but went cold for the next five minutes and entered the locker room down 33-27. The Black Bears would never lead again.
By the final buzzer, UMaine was outshot 51.8 percent to 44.6 percent from the field, despite making an impressive six of 12 shots from beyond the arc. Juniors Kellen Tynes (16 points), Quion Burns (13) and Lopez (13) all scored double-digit points for the Black Bears, and individually shot 50 percent or better from the field.
“We shot well from three, and I feel like we looked off some good shots [at times],” Markwood said. “With their switches and length, it was hard for us to get shots along the perimeter.”
Tynes was also UMaine’s leading assist man, with four, and forced a team-high three takeaways (two steals, one block). Burns added six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
UMass-Lowell had four players net double-digit points, with 6-foot-8 junior forward Cam Morris III (nine rebounds) and 6-foot-7 senior guard Quinton Mincey (six rebounds) scoring 19 points apiece. Senior forward Max Brooks (nine rebounds, three blocks) and senior guard Ayinde Hikim added 13 points each.
Next up, UMaine will host No. 3 Bryant University, the only America East team the Black Bears haven’t played yet, on Saturday at The Pit in Memorial Gymnasium at 3 p.m. Then, they will cycle through the entire conference once more before the America East tournament begins in early March.
“There’s a lot for us to look at,” Markwood said. “I still love the potential of this group, and I know the guys do too.”
