Black Bears Drop Heartbreaker to Hartford in Final Second

Wednesday, January 16

Bangor, ME

7:00 PM

University of Maine

3-16, 1-3

University of Hartford

9-9, 2-1

Team	1	2	F
Hartford	24	53	77
Maine	33	43	76

Photo Gallery

Photo by: Ronald Gillis Jr.

Black Bears Drop Heartbreaker to Hartford in Final Second

1/16/2019 11:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Vincent Eze scores a career-high 18 points, while Andrew Fleming tallies a double-double.

BANGOR, Maine – The Maine Black Bears men's basketball team led Hartford 76-75 with three seconds left in the second half, when the Hawks' John Carroll was fouled while attempting a shot with a half second remaining. The redshirt senior drained both from the charity-stripe, as Hartford escaped the Cross Insurance Center with a 77-76 victory on Wednesday night.

Vincent Eze put together a career-game for Maine, connecting on 8-of-11 shots from the floor for 18 points. He pulled down five offensive boards for nine total rebounds in the contest. Andrew Fleming set a season-high and matched a career high with 14 boards, while adding 10 points in a double-double performance.

Sergio El Darwich reached double-figures for the seventh-straight contest with 15 points (6-10 FG, 2-4 3PT), while Isaiah White reached the mark for the 10^th consecutive game with 14 points. Vilgot Larsson rounded out the five double-figurer scorers with 12 points.

The two squads led went back-and-forth when the ball tipped, as Maine built a five-point lead at 14-9 with 12:16 to go in the opening half. Maine increased its lead to as high as 12 points in the first half at 27-15 and 29-17, but the Hawks would end the half on a 6-4 run, as Maine led by nine at 33-24 at the break.

The Black Bears (3-16, 1-3 AE) started strong in the second half, increasing its lead to a game-high 13 points, but the Hawks (9-9, 2-1 AE) quickly cut its deficit to one following a 18-6 run over the course of 4 minutes of game play. The Hawks took a small lead at 54-53, as Hartford would go on to an eight-point lead at 62-54 with 5:35 left.

Maine did not give up, ensuing on a 14-3 run of its own to take a 3-point lead after back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Larsson, El Darwich, White and Larsson again. Two free throws a piece from Larsson and Fleming gave Maine a five-point lead with 1:20 to go.

With Maine holding a five-point lead, with 24 seconds left, Jason Dunne of Hartford hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to make it a two-point game. After a Maine turnover, Hartford would tie the game on a layup with six seconds.

White drove down the court, getting fouled on an attempted shot with two seconds remaining. He went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, as Maine retook a one-point lead at 76-75. The Hawks called timeout, as the inbound pass went to John Carroll underneath the Hawks basket, who was fouled. After review, the officials put half a second on the clock. Carroll, who had made 9-of-11 from the stripe previously in the contest and a 77 percent free throw shooter on the season, sunk both shots to lift the Hawks to a one-point lead at 77-76 with just half a second to play.

El Darwich threw up a prayer with half a second left, but the shot went wide right.

The Black Bears led by 40-31 in the rebounds, 17-11 in assists, 45.9% to 45.1% on field goal percentage, and 43.5% to 33.3% from long range. For the second-straight game, Maine shot above 40 percent from 3-point land, as its long distance shooting clip of .435 is second best this season, only trailing the Fordham game's mark of .444.

Hartford made 21 of its 28 attempts from the free throw line, with Carroll converting 11 of 13 from the stripe, registering a total of 22 points. J.R. Lynch knocked down half of his 12 attempts from long range, for a total of 20 points. George Blagojevic added 14 points in the win.

Maine will stay at home, hosting Stony Brook on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. The opening tip is slated for 1:00 p.m. in Bangor. Furloughed federal employees and their families can receive free admission with proper identification. For more information, click here. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.

-UMaine-