The University of Maine men’s basketball team began the season with more momentum than it’s had in a long time, on the heels of its first conference championship game appearance in over two decades.
But a few key injuries and an anemic offensive performance thus far this season have made it a hard road for the current Black Bears team. Those struggles continued Monday with a home loss against rival University of New Hampshire 65-48.
UMaine entered the week with the fourth worst Division I scoring offense in the entire country, averaging just 61.6 points per game. And the Black Bears offense once again disappeared for large portions of Monday’s contest.
UMaine was held scoreless in a five-minute stretch during the first quarter, and UNH went on a 17-2 run at one point to transform a 10-8 lead into a more comfortable 27-10.
The home team struggled to find consistency on the offensive end, and despite a few high-energy moments around the rim that helped temporarily reignite the UMaine fans, the Black Bears were never able to bring the game back within reach.
UMaine shot just 34.1 percent from the floor, and went 1-14 from three-point range. The Black Bears were without a made shot from downtown until the final six minutes of the game, when guard Ryan Mabrey knocked down a deep three.
Belal El Shakery led all scorers with 11 points for UNH. Keelan Steele led the Black Bears with nine points and TJ had eight.
UMaine fell to 3-17 on the year and UNH is now 5-12.
“Today’s not acceptable, I told the guys that,” UMaine coach Chris Markwood said after the loss. “Losing is one thing — we’ve obviously gone through more of that this year than ever — but it’s how we’re responding to certain things, to certain adversities, that we’re not going to accept.”
Despite the setbacks so far this season, Markwood said his team and coaching staff will continue to work hard and try to figure things out together.