University of Maine
Albany (N.Y.)
Maine Men's Basketball Wraps Up Busy January with 77-59 Loss to Albany
1/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine – Despite having four players record double figure points, and boasting a four point advantage early in the second half, the Maine men's basketball team was unable to fend off the Albany Great Danes falling, 77-59 at the Cross Insurance Center on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Black Bears to 2-20 and 1-8 in conference, and completes a busy January slate with a 1-9 mark. Albany remained undefeated in America East play with the victory, as the squad improved to 15-7 and 10-0 in conference.
Albany managed two 20-point scorers despite dealing with the absence of it's most notable player, Peter Hooley, who has been with family following passing of his mother. Evan Singletary and Wheeler Baker poured in 21 points apiece against the Black Bears while Sam Rowley tallied 17 in the victory.
Maine had four players record double figures with freshman Aaron Calixte leading the way with 15. Calixte flirted with a double-double as he also recorded seven assists. Zarko Valjarevic had 11 points while Till Gloger also came close to a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds and Shaun Lawton broke double-figures with 10.
Despite outrebounding the Great Danes, Maine allowed Albany to shoot 55 percent for the game and 67 percent in the second half. Albany enjoyed open looks from the perimeter as they shot 7-of-11 from beyond the arc in the final frame.
The Great Danes opened an early eight point advantage in the first half, going on a 15-7 run in the first six minutes. The Black Bears used a pair of treys by Valjarevic and Troy Reid-Knight to help knot the score at 15-15 with 12:33 remaining.
The Black Bears took their first lead thanks to a 3-point play with just under 10 minutes as Maine held a slim 21-20 lead.
Maine led by as many as five in the half thanks to a Lawton layup in the paint to make it 27-22 but Albany fought back and eventually took a lead with 1:51 remaining as Rowley tallied a bucket and the squad went to halftime up 30-27.
In the second half Maine got out to four-point advantage thanks to a pair of jumpers by Calixte and Valjarevic along with a Reid-Knight trey, which gave Maine the 36-32 lead with 16:06 remaining.
That was the last lead Maine held as the Albany offense started to take over.
Dallas Ennema hit a jumper at the 15:48 mark to give Albany a 37-36 lead with 15:20 remaining and then went on a 25-12 run for the next 10 minutes, as it stretched its lead to 17, 65-48.
Mike Rowley gave Albany its largest lead of the day with a layup with 2:15 left in the half to make it 75-53, a 22-point advantage, and Albany closed out the 77-59 victory.
The Black Bears open February on the road as the squad travels to Burlington, Vt., to take on the Catamounts on Tuesday night. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
