University of Maine
Hartford
Men's Basketball Falls in America East Tournament
3/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- The University of Maine men's basketball team fell in the America East Quarterfinals to Hartford by the score of 66-63 on Saturday evening. Maine finishes its season 15-15 while Hartford is now 11-19.
Malachi Peay (Brooklyn, N.Y.) got Maine off to a good start, going in for a layup while shifting the ball in the air to avoid the defender while starting a 14-to-6 run for Maine to open the game.
The Hawks would score the next two buckets, but Peay would make a nice touch pass to Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine) on a fastbreak to push the lead back to six.
McNally would follow that with a jumper to make it an eight-point lead. After a Hartford three, Terrance Mitchell (Milton, Fla.) answered with a trifecta of his own.
The Hawks would go on a run to cut the lead to 24-21 with 4:22 left, and would cut it to two on a free throw before Raheem Singleton (Boston, Mass.) drained a three from the top of the arc.
Hartford made a layup, but Singleton came right back down and made an incredible layup while getting hammered and made the free throw to make it 32-26 Maine.
The Hawks scored the final five points of the half, and Maine took a 32-31 lead into intermission.
Singleton had 10 points to lead Maine in the first half while Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif.) added seven. McNally had four points and four rebounds.
The Black Bears shot 52 percent in the first half while the Hawks shot 43.8 percent.
McLemore got a steal to set things off in the second half that led to a Barnies layup, but the Hawks would make their first three shots to take a 39-38 lead before Alasdair Fraser made a pair from the charity strip to give Maine a 40-39 lead with just under 16 minutes to play.
The Hawks would continue their hot shooting and would take a 47-40 lead with 13:21 left.
McNally would stop the Hawks run with a tough rebound and layup, and a McLemore three-pointer on a fastbreak with a dish from Mitchell cut the lead to two.
Mitchell then grabbed a rebound and raced ahead and handed it off to McLemore who made another three to give Maine a 48-47 lead with 9:45 left.
Mitchell then made a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to three. The Hawks made a bucket and stopped the Black Bears, but Mitchell would get fouled on the Hawks' possession to gibe Maine the ball.
The Black Bears could not capitalize, and Hartford made a layup for a 51-50 lead. Hartford scored the next four points, but Mitchell came right back with a three from the top of the arc.
Hartford made a pair of free throws before Mitchell canned a deep three to cut the lead to 57-56 with 4:22 left. Following two free throws by Hartford, Barnies made a nice hook from the block.
The teams exchanged baskets and it was 61-60 Hartford with under three minutes to play.
Hartford took a 63-60 lead, and had the ball but Maine forced the Hawks into a shot clock violation.
Mitchell got fouled on the ensuing possession and made both free throws. The Hawks called timeout and made a three to take a 66-62 lead.
Singleton would make a free throw to cut it to three, and the Black Bears fouled Hartford to stop the clock. The Hawks missed the free throw and Maine grabbed the rebound, but the Black Bears could not quite convert on their possession.
-U-M-
