CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Despite a closely-fought opening 20 minutes, the Maine Black Bears men's basketball team dropped an 85-65 season-opening matchup to ACC-foe Boston College at the Conte Forum on Friday afternoon.

Ilija Stojiljkovic was one of three Black Bears to reach double figures in scoring, leading Maine with 14 points and caromed eight rebounds in front of a crowd of 4,522. Stojiljkovic shot a perfect 5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from three-point range on the day. The junior from Nis, Serbia tallied an assist, and only turned the ball over once.
 
Aaron Calixte (12 points) and Danny Evans (11 points) were the two other Black Bears to score at least 10 points. Trae Bryant and Andrew Fleming each added nine points. Bryant grabbed seven boards as the second-leading rebounder for Maine.
 
Both teams battled for the first 20 minutes, as the Black Bears took its first lead of the contest at 9-6 after a Danny Evans three-pointer with 16:25 left in the half. Bryant would add a trey to increase Maine's lead to 12-6. The two New England-area schools squaring off for the 21^st time would trade baskets, with neither establishing a lead of more than six for the next 11 minutes.
 
Towards the end of first half, the Eagles pulled away slightly, taking a 35-28 advantage at the break. Boston College outscored Maine 50-37 down the stretch in the second half to capture a 85-65 win.
The Black Bears were plagued of foul-trouble in the second half, and the Eagles took advantage by converting 12 of 15 free throw attempts.

The Eagles were led offensively by the guard-tandem of Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson, who each registered 18 points.
 
The Black Bears will have the rest of the weekend off, before taking on Texas Tech on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena. The game will be broadcasted on Fox College Sports.
 
-UMaine-