ORONO, Maine - The Black Bears take to the road in the final month of conference regular season play after a 1-1 homestand losing to UMBC and beating Hartford, bringing their conference record to 2-9 on the season. Maine begins their road trip against UMass Lowell, who comes in 4-7 in conference play and off a loss to Stony Brook.
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SCOUTING MAINE
Maine comes into this game off their first conference victory in a month, defeating Hartford by a score of 52-41 on Monday evening. Maine outscored Hartford 36-12 in the paint, 10-0 on fast-break points.
Andrew Fleming had a game-high 11 points, along with eight rebounds, an assist and a block.
Austin Howard had nine points, six rebounds, and two steals and an assist. Several other Black Bears finished with equal statlines and scoring over five points each, including
Ryan Bernstein (seven points, five rebounds, one assist, two steals),
Vincent Eze (seven points, six rebounds),
Danny Evans (six rebounds, one assist one steal) and
Wes Myers (five points, seven rebounds, one block one steal).
Myers leads the team in points per game with 16.9, 21.1 in conference play; he ranks fifth in conference in points per game.
Andrew Fleming follows close behind in the scoring column with 10.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Ryan Bernstein is ranked 35th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio, with a 2.76; he ranks second in the conference in the stat and averages 3.1 assists per game.
Vincent Eze has taken well to the starter role, taking over as a starter with several teammates out with injury last month; he's now started the last 13 games for Maine, and is averaging 8.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in conference play (5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds overall).
Scouting UMass Lowell
The River Hawks come into the matchup off a loss to Stony Brook in Stony Brook, NY. Jahad Thomas had a game-high 24 points, along with 10 rebounds, five assists, and two steals in the 83-72 loss to the Seawolves. No other River Hawks player broke double digits in scoring in the game, despite the scoring being very spread out throughout the roster in the game (Ryan Jones, Tyler Livingston, with nine points, Logan Primenaro and Jordan Shea with 8).
The River Hawks are led this season by Jahad Thomas who averages 17.8 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. He averages a double-double in conference play, 19.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Tyler Livingston follows close behind with 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.
All-time series
Maine and UMass Lowell have faced off on the court just 12 times in their history, with UML holding the overall record 8-4. Last season the teams split the season series with Maine taking the first matchup in the season 95-81 @ UML on January 13th.
Devine Eke went off for Maine, scoring 25 points and tallying six rebounds. He also blocked two shots.
Kevin Little chipped in with 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and
Shaun Lawton had 17 points, two assists, and six steals. Game 2 of their series last year took place in Bangor where UML took the game in overtime, 108-95. UML's Matt Harris scored 33 points in the game, while also tallying three assists, three steals, and three rebounds. UML also had two players scoring in the 20s, Logan Primerano with 27 and Jahad Thomas with 20.
In their most previous meeting at the Cross Insurance Center on January 11th, Maine took the game by a score of 73-71 off a game-winning layup by
Wes Myers, who finished with 31 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Tyler Livingston led the River Hqwks in points with 24 and 10 rebounds, while Jahad Thomas had 17 and 11 rebounds.
