ORONO, Maine - The Black Bears are looking to bounce back in December as they return home from Duke to face Holy Cross, before traveling to Dartmouth and Portland to play a home game against Quinnipiac. The Black Bears then travel on the road for the rest of December.

DEAD RIVER COMPANY MILITARY APPRECIATION SERIES:
The University of Maine athletic department is proud to continue its Military Appreciation Series, presented by Dead River Company. This partnership, in its second year, will provide the opportunity for the Black Bears to honor our military men and women at three separate athletic events over the course of the 2016-17 season. One of these events will be featured on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. when the UMaine men's basketball team takes on Holy Cross on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day at the Cross Insurance Center.

A major component of the Military Appreciation Series partnership with Dead River Company is to provide all military personnel, veterans and their immediate family members with complimentary tickets to each of the three select games.

Military personnel and veterans with proper identification are asked to call the ticket office at 207-581-BEAR to reserve complimentary tickets for themselves and their immediate family members.

For more information regarding Military Appreciation Series tickets call the University of Maine box office at 207-581-BEAR. To order additional tickets to select Black Bear athletic events, please visit TicketMaster.com or call the box office.

SCOUTING MAINE
The Black Bears enter action coming off a loss at Duke, losing 94-55 at Cameron Indoor stadium. Junior Guard Ilker Er had a career night, marking his career high in points with 20,  and FGs made with 8. He also shot 4-7 from beyond the three-point line. Wes Myers also chipped in with 15 points on 5-11 shooting overall, 3-5 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 at the free-throw line.

Transfer Wes Myers leads Maine in scoring at 13 points per game. Myers, who is tied for 11th in points per game among other America East players, has finished with double-figures in six of Maine's first eight outings. He has taken care of the ball in the early going as he leads America East in assists-to-turnover ratio (21 assists, 7 turnovers, +3.0) Myers ranks third on the team with 3.8 rebounds per game and  2nd on the team in assists per game with 2.6. Andrew Fleming is adding 9.9 points and is Maine's leader on the boards, averaging 5.5 per game to sit him 11th in the league. The freshman big man has controlled the paint for Maine as he is 4th in the league with six blocks and has been consistent with his finishes, ranking 7th in the league at 51.6 percent from teh floor. Ilker Er after his career night is adding 11.1 points/game and is Maine's deep-threat, ranking second in the league with 21 makes from beyond the arc.

As a unit, the Black Bears are averaging 71.9 points per game. Maine ranks second in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.2) and fifth in total assists per game (13.0). Maine has been solid on the offensive glass, checking in 57th in the nation at 13.13 per game.

SCOUTING HOLY CROSS
The Crusaders come into this matchup off a close 56-53 loss at UNH, where Holy Cross' Karl Charles led the team with 16 points on 5-9 shooting, 1-3 from behind the arc, and 5-6 from the free-throw line. Charles also chipped in 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Malachi Alexander shot 4-12 overall, 2-6 from three, for a total of 10 points, 2 assists,  2 steals, and 7 rebounds, but turned the ball over twice and went 0-3 from the free-throw line.

Holy Cross is led in points per game by Robert Champion, who tallies 12.4 per game  on 99 total points in 8 games played. He's third on the team in rebounds per game with 3.0, and has 13 assists, 9 steals, and 2 blocks on the year. Malachi Alexander has chipped in 12.1 points per game, along with a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game and has 10 takeaways. He has also chipped in 20 assists on the seson. Charles is averaging 9.6 points per game and is 2nd on the team in rebounds per game with 3.8; he's shooting 46.7% overall, and has a team-high 31 assists on the year.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Maine and Holy Cross have faced off a total of 8 times with Holy Cross owning the all-time series record with a 7-1 record against the Black Bears. Their first matchup was on February 14th, 1980, where Maine hosted The Crusaders and lost the matchup 73-67. Maine's last (and only) victory against Holy Cross came on November 27th, 2011, with Maine at home winning 72-60.

The last time these two teams faced off was last season at Holy Cross on December 21st, 2015, in an extremely close game which saw Holy Cross take the victory 76-75. For Maine, Troy-Reid Knight led all Maine scorers with 15 points on 5-13 shooting (3-8 from three) and 2-2 at the charity stripe. He also chipped in two assists and two steals.  For Holy Cross, Robert Champion led the way with 20 points, 7 assists, two steals and a block, and Matt Husek chipped in with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

-UMaine-