University of Maine basketball player Amare Allen in a game against the University of Maine at Fort Kent on Dec. 30, 2025. Courtesy of Seth Poplaski / UMaine Athletics

The University of Maine basketball team picked up its first America East Conference win of the season as it took down the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 74-70.

The Black Bears jumped out to an early lead as they knocked down four of their first six shots and two of three from the free throw line as the score stood at 11-5 a little over five minutes into the contest.

The Black Bears continued their hot start as they knocked down their first six three-pointers as a team, pushing their lead up to nine-points with a little over five minutes to go in the first half.

UMaine took an eight-point advantage into the break as it led, 37-29.

Maine shot 61.9% from the field and 63.6% from three-point range as a team, led by TJ Biel’s 11 points.

Yanis Bamba had six points off the bench while every Black Bear who saw action in the opening half scored at least two points.

NJIT opened up the second half on a 14-0 run to flip the score in its favor.

After falling behind by as many as six points in the second half, the Black Bears retook the lead with 7:53 to go in the second half on a slam dunk for Keelan Steele.

The Black Bears (3-15) conclude their three-game road trip on Thursday as they head to Burlington to take on Vermont for a 7 p.m. game.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *