BANGOR, Maine - Riding a momentum wave of back-to-back conference wins, the Maine men's basketball team will try to keep their sterling play rolling on Wednesday night when they host conference juggernaut Vermont at the Cross Insurance Center at 7:00 PM.
Vermont at Maine
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FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
Date: Sunday, January 22
nd
Time: 7:00 PM
Site: Cross Insurance Center
SERIES HISTORY
Overall.........................................Vermont, 73-70
Streak...................................................UVM, +17
Last 5 meetings.....................................UVM, 5-0
Last Meeting........................3/9/19, UVM, 73-57
Last Win.......................................1/22/13, 71-68
2-0 AT HOME, LOOKING FOR THREE
The Black Bears continue their three-game America East homestand, capping things off with a marquee matchup against conference heavyweight Vermont on Wednesday night. Maine has put up back-to-back wins over UMass-Lowell and Binghamton, and will look to complete their first three-game win streak since a stretch in February of 2013 where they knocked off Albany, Hartford, and Binghamton in order.
LAST TIME OUT
The Black Bears got their second straight America East win on Sunday afternoon, as they took down the Binghamton Bearcats by an 86-63 final score at the Cross Insurance Center.
Maine had four players register double-digit point totals and out-rebounded Binghamton by a +19 margin on the day to cruise to the victory, with Maine grabbing the lead at 18:35 in the first half and never relinquishing it again.
Fresh off his near triple-double against UMass-Lowell on Wednesday night, Sergio El Darwich posted another strong effort with a game-high 26-points, nine assists, five rebounds, and three steals on the day.
Andrew Fleming put together a strong showing, shooting 7-10 from the field on his way to 15 points, alongside seven assists, three steals, and a block. Stephane Ingo set a new career-high with 13 points on 5-10 shooting, along with a team-high seven boards.
As mentioned, Maine outpaced Binghamton in rebounds (42-23), as well as fast break points (13-2), points in the paint (44-22), and points off turnovers (16-4). Maine totaled 24 assists on 34 made field goals, as well as an 8-10 team mark from the free throw line. The win was Maine's first 20+ win over an America East foe since January 15th, 2011, a 77-51 victory over Binghamton.
A LOOK AT THE CATAMOUNTS
The premier player in the conference, reigning America East Player of the Year Anthony Lamb leads Vermont into their title-defense in 2019-20. He currently sits sixth in the conference in scoring (16.3 ppg), fifth in rebounds per game (7.6), third in blocked shots per game (1.37), and fourth in free throw percentage (78.4%). Lamb earned his eighth career America East Player of the Week award in early November after hitting the game-winner in Vermont's win over St. John's.
Stef Smith is the second option on the Catamount roster, averaging 14.8 points per game on a 44.4/39.3/73.5 shooting line. He's tenth in the conference in scoring and seventh in field goal percentage.
Vermont has had about as successful a season as they expected so far, beginning the season with their first 4-0 start since the 1977-78 season. They fell to Virginia to end their hot start, before bouncing back against Central Connecticut State the next time out. Their only other non-conference common opponent is Dartmouth, who they beat by 77-68 final score on January 2nd. They opened America East play with an upset loss handed down by Stony Brook, but have since rattled off wins over UMBC, Binghamton, and Hartford heading into today.
MOVE THE BALL
Maine currently ranks first in the America East and fifth in the nation in assist to field goal percentage, registering an assist on 64.9% of their field goal makes this year. The next closest America East team is Albany, who sits at 64th overall with an assist on 56.6% of their field goals.
For all the latest news and updates regarding Maine Basketball, stay tuned to GoBlackBears.com and the social media handle @BlackBearsMBB on Instagram and Twitter.
