ORONO, Maine - The Black Bears are set to face the UMBC Retrievers on Sunday afternoon in their second conference game of the 2016-17 season, after a loss to Vermont on Thursday night 90-77; the Retreivers come in off a conference win against Binghamton, 85-71.
Â
 SCOUTING MAINE
Maine is coming off a conference loss to Vermont which saw seven lead changes, four ties, and 60 total bench points. Several late-game Vermont runs were finally able to put Maine away, after they came back to tie the game twice in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Wes Myers was just one point off of his career high in points with 30, on a career-high 11 made field goals, and a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line.
Ryan Bernstein tied his season high in points with 12, along with five rebounds and assists, and two steals.
Austin Howard and
Aaron Calixte also chipped in with 11 points each.
Myers leads the team in points per game with 14.8, while also contributing 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Andrew Fleming follows close behind with 10.6 points per game, a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, and 1.1 assists per game, though missed Maine's last game against Vermont with an illness. 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 11.56 and third in conference for total rebounds with 576. Maine looks to long-range offense often, as they lead the conference in three-point attempts this season with 389, and are fourth in the conference in made threes with 131.
SCOUTING UMBC
The Retrievers opened up conference play with a victory over Binghamton, 85-71 where four Retrievers scored in double figures; Will Darley and Jairus Lyles both had 17 points, Joe Sherburne had 14, and Nolan Gerrity had 13. UMBC had 21 assists on 31 baskets.
UMBC is led in scoring by Jairus Lyles who is averaging 21.6 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, and 2.5 assists per game; his points per game average is the highest in the conference, ranked 17th nationally. Joe Sherburne is averaging 14.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. He leads the conference in three-point FG percentage with 54.7, ranked third nationally. Will Darley averages 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. As a team, UMBC has played very disciplined, ranking 22nd nationally and first in conference with fewest fouls committed with 225 on the season so far. They also rank in the top 50 for field goal percentage with 47.9%.
ALL-TIME SERIES
For an America East matchup, the Maine-UMBC has only seen a total of 27 games, UMBC winning 15 of them, Maine winning 12. Their last matchup came late last season, February 6th, 2016, when they met at the Portland Expo, and UMBC edged out Maine 83-79. For UMBC Jairus Lyles dropped 37 points on the Black Bears, as well as five rebounds and a steal and assist. For Maine,
Aaron Calixte led the way with 18 points and six assists, and
Devine Eke and
Kevin Little each had 13 points.
