AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Maine men's basketball team fell for the third straight game on Friday evening, as the Minutemen of the University of Massachusetts finished strong to cruise to a 74-53 victory at the Mullins Center. 

The Black Bears traded buckets with their hosts in the opening minutes, taking a 10-8 lead at the 16:00 minute mark of the first half after an Andrew Fleming dunk. The Minutemen did their best work of the evening after that, however, rattling off a 23-5 run over 7:35 of game time to build an insurmountable lead. Maine managed to cut the lead down to single digits multiple times, but never could come all the way back, as UMass cruised to the 74-53 victory.

MAINE GAME NOTES

• Nedeljko Prijovic followed up a 15-point performance against Quinnipiac last time out with a 14-point performance tonight on 6-11 shooting from the field to lead Maine offensively. 
• Sergio El Darwich totaled eight rebounds on the evening while collecting three steals. 
• Maine broke 20+ turnovers as a team for the fourth time this year with 21 miscues tonight, while forcing 13 UMass turnovers that they turned into 15 points. 
• Maine shot 39.6% (19-48) from the field on the evening, alongside a 25.0% (4-16) mark from three and a 61.1% (11-18) performance from the free-throw line. 

LOOKING AHEAD

• Maine falls to 3-9 on the season, with just two more non-conference tilts before America East play begins on January 5th at the Cross Center against Stony Brook at the Cross Center. 
• Next up for Maine is possibly the longest trip in collegiate athletics, as the Black Bears will go out to the University of Hawaii in Manoa on December 29^th.