ORONO, Maine - The Black Bears are coming off a tough late-game Stony Brook run which handed them their third conference loss, facing an equally struggling Hartford Hawks team which has yet to see a conference victory this season. Maine is 5-14 on the season, Hartford is 5-13.
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SCOUTING MAINE
Maine got off to a good start on Saturday afternoon against Stony Brook as they led the Seawolves 31-28 at halftime, but Stony Brook outscored Maine 46-23 in the second half on a 23-0 run to hand Maine their third conference loss of the season. For Maine,
Vincent Eze tallied his first career double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and an assist.
Wes Myers had a team-high 18 points, five assists, and four rebounds.
Myers leads the team in points per game with 16.5, 26.8 in conference play; he ranks fifth in conference in points per game, and third in total points with 314.
Ryan Bernstein is second in the conference in assist/to ratio with 3.0. He has 60 assists on the season, averaging 3.2 per game. Maine as a whole has shown great strengths in rebounding this season, as they are third in the conference in offensive rebounds per game with 11.42 and first in conference for total rebounds with 678. Maine looks to long-range offense often, as they lead the conference in three-point attempts this season with 443, and are fifth in the conference in made threes with 145.
SCOUTING HARTFORD
The Hawks are coming off similar schedule to Maine's, facing Vermont, UMBC, and most recently UML in conference losses to all three. Hartford fell to the River Hawks 71-55 on Saturday, with only one Hartford scorer being able to reach double figures in scoring, Jalen Ross with 19, three rebounds, three steals and an assist. Hartford, much like Maine's last game, was leading at the half but was outscored in the second half 41-24, giving UML a 71-55 victory.
Jalen Ross leads all Hartford scorers this season with 20.9 points per game, 18.8 in conference. He's second in conference in the points per game category behind only Jairus Lyles of UMBC. Jason Dunne averages 13.4 points per game; Dunne and Ross are tied for fourth in conference for steals per game with 1.3, Ross has 24 steals Dunne has 23.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Maine and Hartford are perennial contenders, and are known to often split season series' as they did last season; Maine winning the first matchup in January at Hartford, 105-100 in overtime, and Hartford taking the matchup in Bangor, Maine, by a score of 82-74. Hartford leads the overall series 38-29.
-UMaine-
