University of Maine
Hartford
Men's Basketball Takes Down Hartford in Overtime, 105-100
1/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
W. HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aaron Calixte poured in a career-high 23 points with five assists and Till Gloger added 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench as the University of Maine men's basketball team defeated Hartford by a score of 105-100 on Wednesday evening.
The contest featured a total of 18 lead changes and 13 ties. Maine showed toughness down low, finishing with a 54-22 advantage in the paint.
Devine Eke added his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Kevin Little hit four 3-pointers on his way to 16 points.
Maine held the advantage in rebounding, 55-42, with 20 coming on the offensive end. The Black Bears turned their toughness on the offensive boards into a 20-9 edge in second chance points.
Gloger went 10-for-14 from the floor and added nine rebounds as the Black Bears continued their rapid pace, finishing 39-of-88 from the floor (44.3%) with 10 triples.
Maine's largest lead of the first half would be four just 4:28 into the first half. Neither team could separate as no lead would reach more than four until Hartford put together a late 10-2 run to go up by eight.
Maine answered with a 3-pointer by Ryan Bernstein and a bucket by Little. The Hartford lead once again expanded to eight with 1:05 remaining. The Black Bears closed the half on a 4-0 sprint and would trail 47-43 at the break.
The Black Bears kept charging early in the second half but could not get over the hump, cutting the advantage to one on several occasions but never able to knot the score.
Trailing by five with 7:39 to play, Maine mounted a 6-0 run to regain the lead with 5:28 to play. Gloger started the sprint with a bucket before four-straight free throws by Issac Vann gave Maine a 73-73 lead.
Hartford went back on top by three with a 3-point from Taylor Dyson with 3:26 to play.
Maine continued to show fight as Calixte fought his way through the lane for back-to-back layups, giving the Black Bears another one point edge.
Pancake Thomas hit a pair of free throws with 34-seconds left to but the Hawks up one. However, with 21-seconds left, Shaun Lawton hit one-of-two at the free throw stripe, tying the game for the 12th time. A late 3-point attempt by the Hawks missed, sending the game to overtime.
The Hawks came out hot in overtime, staging an 11-4 run in the opening 2:10 to go up seven.
There was no quit in the Black Bears. Following a time out, the Black Bears powered through a 12-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers by Little and Lawton to put Maine back ahead, 100-95.
The lead grew to eight after an offensive put-back by Troy Reid-Knight preceded a pair of free throws from Calixte.
Maine would ultimately hold on, taking the league victory on the road, 105-100.
The Black Bears return home to host Binghamton on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.
-UMaine-
