BRONX, N.Y. – The Maine Black Bears men's basketball team came up just short against Atlantic 10 foe Fordham, falling to the Rams 67-66 in overtime at historic Rose Hill Gymnasium. Aaron Calixte, Andrew Fleming, and Ilker Er combined for 51 of Maine's 66 points in the loss.
 
Calixte led Maine with 20 points, which includes a perfect mark of 7-for-7 from the free throw line. The redshirt-junior totaled four assists and two rebounds before fouling out in the overtime period.
 
Fleming put together his best overall performance to this point in the season, registering season-highs in points (16, 5-for-12 from the field) and rebounds (13) in 41 minutes played. The South Paris, Maine native also added two assists and a steal in the double-double performance. 
 
Maine (1-7) held a 57-52 lead over Fordham (3-4) with 4:13 left in regulation, as the Rams put together a 5-0 run to tie the contest at 57-57 with 91 seconds left. The Rams' Joseph Chartouny converted a 3-point play to take a 60-57 advantage. Following a Black Bear timeout, Er drained a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game with 42 seconds and eventually force overtime.
 
The overtime period went without a score for three minutes, until Fordham put in a layup with 1:55 remaining, and earned two free throws to take a 64-60 lead with 1:27 left. The Black Bears did not give up, as a Celio Araujo free throw put the game within one possession at 64-61.

Maine fouled Fordham with 18 seconds remaining in the overtime period, as the Rams' Perris Hicks hit one of his two free throws to extend Fordham's lead to four at 65-61. Araujo was fouled on the next possession, and hit both free throws to cut Fordham's lead to just two at 65-63. Maine fouled to stop the clock and force free throws after, with Fordham could only hit one of their two shots from the charity-stripe.
 
Maine got possession following the foul shots, but a turnover gave the ball back to Fordham with three seconds left. Once again Maine fouled, but Chartouny could only hit one of his free throws to make it a four-point game. With just two seconds left on the clock, Araujo sunk a halfcourt shot, but Maine ran out of time, falling 67-66.
 
Er provided excellent depth from the bench, tallying 15 points, including the overtime forcing 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in regulation. Vernon Lowndes Jr. contributed a career-high 11 rebounds, along with two assists and two steals. Araujo reached a career-high in assists, distributing an impressive eight in 33 minutes played.
 
The Black Bears led for over 28 minutes of the 45-minute contest, with Fordham holding an edge in the lead for almost eight minutes. The game went back-and-forth the entire contest, which featured nine lead changes and nine ties. The Black Bear-Ram matchup featured a tie score for over eight minutes of game time.    
 
Maine out rebounded Fordham by a count of 42-37, with 10 of the boards coming on the offensive end.
 
The Rams were led offensively by Chartouny (21 points), Prokop Slanina (15 points) and Will Tavares (15 points).
 
The Black Bears return home following the three-game road trip on Tuesday to play the University of Maine at Presque Isle in game two of a double-header at the Cross Insurance Center. For tickets to the double-header, click here. For information on the Meet The Black Bears event in between games, click here.
 
-UMaine-