DENTON, Texas – Facing a nine-point deficit at 56-47 with 2:06 remaining, the Maine Black Bears men's basketball team climbed back to force an overtime period, but could not knock off North Texas, falling 74-63 on Tuesday night at the Super Pit.
The Black Bears (0-5) used a 13-4 scoring run over the final 2:05 of the second half, which was capped with a coast-to-coast layup drive by
Isaiah White which dropped through the nylon with 1.1 seconds left to tie the contest at 60-60. Maine took its first lead of the contest at 62-60 after White opened the scoring in overtime, but the Mean Green (7-0) closed the game on a 14-1 run to escape the Super Pit with the victory.
White finished the contest with a team-high 22 (8-19 FG) points, 14 of which came in the second-half and 8 came in the final 1:04 of regulation. He also collected four rebounds.
Vilgot Larsson put together a very efficient shooting performance of 7-for-8 on field goal attempts, dropping in 15 points while, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Andrew Fleming picked up eight of his 11 points in the second frame, knocking down three of his five attempts from the floor in the half. He also distributed a season-high five assists against the Mean Green, while grabbing four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Sergio El Darwich rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points, while also contributing three takeaway in 32 minutes played.
North Texas, who defeated its six opponents by an average of 30.7 points entering the game, opened the game in a 19-8 run. Larsson put in all of Maine's first eight points, to keep the Black Bears within striking distance.
UNT built a 13-point advantage at 23-10, as the two squads would trade baskets, with Maine coming as close as eight points of the Mean Green at 31-23. The Black Bears would be held scoreless the final 2:31 of the half, as North Texas headed to the locker room with a 35-23 advantage. Maine shot 40.74 (11-27 FG) percent from the floor during the first 20 minutes, compared to a very efficient 65.22 percent (15-23 FG) shooting performance from North Texas.
It was a tale of two halves, as the Black Bears found its swagger in the final 20 minutes on both the offensive and defensive end.
The Black Bears narrowed the Mean Green's lead to just six at 45-39 following a 7-2 sprint by Maine, which featured four points from Larsson and a White trey. North Texas fought right back with a triple of its own, but once again Maine whittled UNT's advantage to five at 52-47 after a Maine 5-1 charge.
North Texas built back a 9-point cushion at 56-47 with 4:34 remaining, but El Darwich and White combined for 11 points over the next 4:22 to come within one point of North Texas at 59-58 with 12 seconds remaining. UNT made and missed a free throw to make it a two-point game at 60-58 with just seven seconds to go.
White received the inbound pass, weaving around three different North Texas players before laying in the tying bucket with 1.1 ticks left on the scoreboard. UNT failed to nail a buzzer-beater as the game went into overtime tied 60-60. Maine drained 58.33 (14-24 FG, 6-9 3-PT) percent of its field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes, while North Texas could only muster a 33.33 percentage (6-18 FG), as the Black Bears outscored the Mean Green by 12 points (37-25).
Maine took its only lead of the game after White sunk two from the charity stripe to begin the extra period, but it was all Mean Green the rest of the way, as North Texas finished the game on a 14-1 run to remain undefeated.
Zachary Simmons scored a game-high 24 points for North Texas, while Ryan Woolridge (12 points), DJ Draper (11 points) and Michael Miller (10 points) all reached 10-plus points.
The Black Bears return to the hardwood on Sunday, when Maine caps its final game of a six-game road trip against Quinnipiac. The opening tip is set for 2:00 p.m. at the People's United Center.
-UMaine-
