BANGOR, Maine - The Black Bears were down by 10 points with 5:49 remaining in the second half, but came back to win the game on a last-second jumper with four seconds left in the game to take the victory over UMass Lowell, 73-71.

Wes Myers, who hit the game-winning jumper, finished with 31 points, tying his career high. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals on 38 minutes. He scored 22 of his 31 points in the second half, including six baskets in the final five-minute run.

Ryan Bernstein played all 40 minutes in the contest, tallying 15 points, five rebounds, six assists on no turnovers, and three steals. Bernstein shot 6-8 from the field, 2-3 from behind the arc.

Austin Howard led the Black Bears in scoring with the first half with 11 points, finishing with a total of 18; he also added an assists, two rebounds, and two steals.

The Black Bears led for most of the first half, leading by as much as eight points as they lead for almost 14 minutes. UML would climb back to tie the game several times late in the half, including a three-pointer with 2:24 remaining to tie the game at 28 all. After back and forth baskets the game would re-tie itself at 31 all with 31 seconds to go, with Maine edging out in front 32-31 on a set of free-throws by Wes Myers. UMass Lowell would hit a three-pointer in the final 10 seconds to give them the halftime lead of 34-32.

The second half started off with another back and forth sequence from both teams; the game saw 13 lead changes and six ties overall. UML started to pull away with 18 minutes left as they went on a 8-2 run to lead 42-37 with 16:51 left. Another run by UML with about 10 remaining put them up by as much as 11, their largest lead of the game, with 9:41 left. They maintained that lead, never letting Maine get closer than six points behind, as they lead by 10 points, 64-54, with 5:49 remaining.

The Black Bears would then put the ball in the hands of Wes Myers, who would go on to score 14 of Maine's last 19 points in the game; the other five points came from a clutch Austin Howard three-pointer with 3:11 left to get Maine within two, 65-63, and a baseline drive layup from Ryan Bernstein with 1:04 left to put Maine up 70-69.

With 13 seconds left, UML hit a quick jumper in the lane to go up 71-70. With the shot clock off, Maine drove back up the court and Wes Myers drove hard to the basket, getting the game-winning basket and drawing a foul, as he hit the and-one to put Maine up 73-71. With four seconds remaining, UML attempted to drive the lane themselves but the shot bounced off the backboard as time expired.

Maine gets their first conference win on the season, and are now 1-2 in conference; they drop UML to a 2-1 conference record.

Maine is back in action at the Cross Insurance Center on Saturday, January 14th at 2pm to take on Stony Brook. For tickets, please visit Ticketmaster.com or the Cross Center box office.

-UMaine-