ORONO, Maine – The Maine men's basketball team concludes its' season long six-game road trip with a stop at Binghamton on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff at the Events Center in Vestal, N.Y. is set for 1:00 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: The Black Bears fought back from a 20-point second half deficit to take a lead with 19 seconds left, but Stony Brook hit a game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left to claim a 71-70 victory at Island Federal Credit Union Arena on Wednesday night. The comeback came on a 31-13 run during the final 12 minutes. Calixte (21 points) shined for the Black Bears, reaching the 20-point mark for the third time this season. The redshirt-junior shot an efficient 8-for-12 from the floor, with 2-for-4 going in from long range. Maine's leading scorer ran the offense well from the point, tallying a season-high eight assists against the Seawolves. He also tied for the team-high with five rebounds and added two steals in 40 minutes played.
THE SERIES: The all-time series between Maine and Binghamton is tied at 17-17, with Saturday's matchup marking the 35
th meeting. The Black Bears split last season's meetings, with the road team earning the victories in 2016-17. In the regular season finale on Feb. 25, Maine travelled to Vestal and earned a tightly fought 72-71 victory.
Andrew Fleming and
Ilija Stojiljkovic combined for 17 points in the win. The Black Bears took a late lead, and made their free throws at the end to seal the win.
A LOOK AT BINGHAMTON: The Bearcats enter Saturday's contest winners of eight of their last 10, with a 9-6 overall record. The game marks Binghamton's America East opener, with the Bearcats earning a 113-65 win over Division III Elmira College on Dec. 30. The Bearcats excel in a number of different categories, ranking in the top-100 in the nation in blocked shots per game (46
th, 4.9 bpg.), field goal percentage (38th, 48.6%), personal fouls per game (48
th, 16.2) scoring defense (85
th, 67.9), 3-point field goal percentage (38.8%), and total blocks (38
th, 73). While the numbers are very impressive, the Bearcats strength of schedule ranks 336 of 351 total teams in Division I. J.C. Show leads the Bearcats with 14.9 points per game, while Thomas Bruce adds in 13.4. Bruce ranks first in the America East in blocked shots per game (3.08), and second in rebounds per game (9.3), field goal percentage (59.0), and double-doubles (5).
CALIXTE DOES IT ALL: Like he has done all season,
Aaron Calixte has led Maine on the offensive end. Calixte tallied his third 20-point game on the season, recording 21 points, and also tied for a team-high of five rebounds. He registered eight of Maine's 12 assists, along with two steals, playing in all 40 minutes. Calixte connected on a contested 3-pointer with just 19 seconds left in the second half which gave the Black Bears their first lead since the 13:07 mark in the first half. The redshirt junior tallied 13 points in the second half for the second consecutive game. Calixte reached double-figures in scoring for the 40
th game of his career on Wednesday. The game also saw Calixte's first missed free throw in the past 11 games. Calixte's school record of consecutive free throws made ended with 37 straight makes. He ranks 14
th nationally with a 91 percent free throw percentage.
FINISHING STRONG: In each of the last three games, the Black Bears have outscored the opposition by significant margins in the second half. The points have come on large runs to end the game, with Maine posting a 32-9 run against UMass on Dec. 22, a 19-2 in against Columbia on Dec. 30, and a 31-13 sprint against Stony Brook on Jan. 3. In total, Maine has outscored the opponents 134-101 in the final 20 minutes of each of the last three contests.
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: The Black Bears will play their fourth of five games in the state of New York this season against the Bearcats on Saturday afternoon. In the three previous games played in New York against Fordham (Dec. 2) Columbia (Dec. 30), and Stony Brook (Jan. 3). Calixte is averaging exactly 20 points per game in games played in New York, while shooting 50 percent (20-40) from the field. He is also averaging three rebounds and four assists per game.
Andrew Fleming is averaging 10.7 points per contest in New York, while bringing down 7.7 boards per game. The Maine-native is shooting above 50 percent from the floor (13-25) in the three games.
UP NEXT: Maine returns home to the Cross Insurance Center for the first time in 31 days, when Maine hosts UMBC on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The Black Bears' America East home-opener is slated to tip at 7:00 p.m. in Bangor.
-UMaine-
