BANGOR, Maine – With Maine down 68-66 to New Hampshire with 21 seconds to go in the second half, Aaron Calixte pulled up and drained a deep contested 3-pointer. The sensational shot turned out to be the game winner, lifting the Black Bears to a 69-68 victory over UNH on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Center.
 
Maine improves to 5-17 on the season and 2-5 in the America East with the win. UNH falls to 8-13, and 4-3 in the conference with the loss.
 
"We played extremely tough," said head coach Bob Walsh after the game. "They're a really tough team, and we said we had to be the tougher team to win. We outscored them in the paint by 12 (30-18), we outscored them at the free throw line (12-12, 9-15), and we beat them on the glass (36-33). Aaron Calixte was a big-time player, and he made a big time shot."
 
Along with hitting the game winning 3-pointer, Calixte tied a career-high with 24 points (9-for-20 FG), grabbed four rebounds, and dished out three assists in 39 minutes of work.
 
Vernon Lowndes Jr. (6-for-9, 3-of-4 3-pt.), and Andrew Fleming each registered 15 points on the day. Isaiah White tallied eight points, and brought down a career-high 13 rebounds. Ilija Stojiljkovic bagged eight boards, while Celio Araujo distributed a game-high five assists.
 
The game was tightly fought the entire contest, featuring 17 lead changes and seven tied scores. Neither team lead by more than eight at any point.
 
New Hampshire held a 37-34 lead with less than two minutes until halftime, but Lowndes Jr. connected on a trey to tie the game at 37-37. Maine took the lead at 39-37 after Lowndes Jr. hit a jumper, but the Wildcats quickly retook the lead after a 3-pointer. Fleming wrapped up the first half scoring with a three-point play after getting fouled on a made layup.
 
Maine went to the locker room with 42-40 advantage, its first lead at halftime in seven conference games this season.  Both teams traded baskets the entire second half, with no lead for either team expanding past four points.
 
Fleming threw down a powerful dunk with 2:45 left in the second half to give the Black Bears a 66-62 advantage. UNH ensued on an 6-0 run, taking a 68-66 lead with 42 seconds left.
 
Trailing by two points, Calixte drained the clutch 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to give the lead back to Maine. After a UNH timeout, the Wildcats missed a 3-pointer as time expired, and Maine took home the victory.
 
"Coach drew up a great play," Calixte said about the game-winning shot. "I came off the ball screen.  I saw his (UNH defender's) feet behind the 3-point line, and that's something me and assistant coach Antone Gray work on the all the time. I had a good look and knocked it down."
 
The win ended a four-game losing streak this season and a six-game skid to the Wildcats. Maine last defeated its oldest rival on March 3, 2014 in the 2013-14 season finale.
 
Coach Walsh was happy to see both streaks end tonight.
 
"We needed to win," continued Walsh. "I don't care if we were playing Nokomis High School. The program, the team, the kids, the way we've been fighting. We absolutely needed to win."
 
"To win a close one and have it go our way at the end. It's big for us." 
 
On the stat sheet, Maine led in rebounds (36-33), steals (6-1), points in the paint (30-18), points off turnovers (16-14), and fast break points (8-6).
 
The Black Bears sunk all 12 of their free throws on the day, while UNH converted just 60 percent (9-15) of its attempts on the day. The Black Bears led for 27:13 of the game compared to 8:25 for UNH. The game was tied for 4:22.
 
Maine became the first America East team to outrebound UNH this season, as the Wildcats have only been outrebounded in 5 games before tonight's contest. New Hampshire entered the game ranked seventh nationally in rebounding margin ( 8.8 rebounds per game).
 
New Hampshire was led by John Ogwuche (19 pts.) and Tanner Leissner (18 pts.) on offense. Josh Hopkins also reached double-figures on the day, adding in 10 points.
 
Maine is back in action this Saturday, when the Black Bears travel to UMBC. The opening tip is slated for 1:00 p.m. at RAC Arena in Baltimore.
 
-UMaine-