University of Maine
University of Maine at Fort Kent
PREVIEW: Men's Basketball Plays Maine Fort Kent For Final Preseason Game
11/4/2016 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Black Bears host the Bengals in the Pit after the Maine football game at approximately 4:30 p.m.
Head Coach Bob Walsh's take
"The Pit is a legendary New England basketball venue, and it will be cool to play our second exhibition game on what will be a great day on our campus. There is a sense of urgency in our practices now that comes naturally with the season being just around the corner. Our guys are excited to play Fort Kent and continue to get better as a unit."
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine defeated Husson last weekend, 108-79. Ilker Er was the high point man for Maine he had 17 points in 19 minutes of play and added five rebounds. The Black Bears had a total of six players in double figures: Er (17), Evans (13), Pirovic (13), Calixte (11), Eze (10) and Ashley (10). Maine shot 54.3% from the field (38-for-70) and shot 36.4% from three (12-for-33). Freshman Andrew Fleming finished with eight points and six rebounds in his first action playing for his homestate university. Other newcomers: Freshman Danny Evans made 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from trey for a total of 13 points in 20 mintues of play. Vincent Eze, a redshirt freshman, had ten points and added five rebounds in 16 minutes of action. Dennis Ashley, also a redshirt freshman, saw his first game action and scored 10 points on 2-of-4 shooting from deep and made four free-throws.
SCOUTING UMaine Fort Kent:
The Bengals are coming off of a 2015-16 campaign that featured a 20 win season (20-14). Leading scorer Joe McCloskey returns after a 19.7 points per game average in 2015-16, he also led the team in minutes played per game (29.2) and rebounds per game (8.6). The Bengals are a older team with four seniors and seven juniors on their roster, including two freshman. Tom Bird is entering his third season as the head coach. His teams have gone 10-12 in his first season and then doubled their win total during the 2015-2016 campaign to 20-14.
A GLIMPSE INTO THE SERIES:
Maine and UMaine Fort Kent have met only twice in their programs' history. The Black Bears lead the all-time series 2-0. Their last meeting came in 2005 at Alfond Arena when the Black Bears defeated the Bengals 86-36. The first ever meeting was in 2002 on November 23, as the Black Bears were victorious 118-61.
