BANGOR, Maine - The Black Bears got their second conference win of the season against the Hartford Hawks on Monday evening at the Cross Center, beating the Hawks 52-41.

Andrew Fleming had a game-high 11 points, and also grabbed eight rebounds, blocked one shot and had an assist.

Austin Howard finished with nine points, as well as six rebounds, an assist and two steals, while Vincent Eze and Ryan Bernstein finished with seven points each (Eze with six rebounds, one block and one steal, Bernstein with five rebounds, an assist and two steals).

The game started off back and forth with a total of four ties in the first 10 minutes of play. Neither team would hold the lead for more than a few minutes, the largest lead going to Maine with 8:45 remaining, they led 14-10 on a layup by Austin Howard. The first half would end with Hartford capitalizing on second-chance opportunities, outscoring the Black Bears 6-1 in that category to take a slight halftime lead, 21-20.

The Black Bears opened up the second half with a layup by Wes Myers to take the lead 22-21 with 19:21 remaining. The Hawks would try to keep it close, trading baskets with the Black Bears for the first eight minutes of the second half; the score was 31-27 Maine with 12:59 remaining. The Black Bears would look to put the game out of reach with an 11-3 six-minute run, which included fast breaks and points in the paint, capped off by an alley-oop dunk, served up by Jaquan McKennon and thrown down by Andrew Fleming; the Black Bears led by 12, their largest lead of the night, after the run.

From that point forward the Hawks never got back within more than six points of the Black Bears, with Maine getting several strong defensive stops to end the game and finished outscoring the Hawks 26-4 in the pain in the second half, and 10-0 in fast break situations. The Black Bears would take the game by the final score of 52-41.

The Black Bears go on a three-game road trip, first traveling to UMass Lowell on Thursday evening, and then to Stony Brook on Sunday and New Hampshire next Wednesday. They will return home for Senior Day on Sunday, February 19th against Albany. For tickets to that game, visit Ticketmaster.com or the Cross Center box office.

-UMaine-