BANGOR, Maine - With a tenuous grip on the final playoff spot in the America East, the Maine men's basketball program will host two hugely important tilts at the Cross Insurance Center this week, starting with a Wednesday night battle against their rivals from New Hampshire.
New Hampshire at Maine
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
Date: Wednesday, February 25
th
Time: 7:00 PM
Site: Cross Insurance Center, Bangor, Maine
PLAYOFF PUSH
With just three regular-season games remaining, Maine sits right in the middle of the battle for playoff spots, as eight teams get tickets to the postseason in the nine-team league. As it stands, Maine would qualify as the eighth seed in the tournament, holding a 2-0 record against Binghamton this year to provide a tiebreaker over the Bearcats. However, with three games remaining, a lot could change between now and the first round of the tournament on March 7th. For full standings, click
here.
SERIES HISTORY
Overall...........................................................120-73
Streak..................................................................L, 2
Last 5 meetings.....................................................2-3
First Meeting.......................1904-05, Maine W, 21-3
Last Meeting............January 8, 2020, UNH W, 57-51
Last Maine Win...................February 3, 2019, 62-53
LAST TIME OUT
Maine gave the Stony Brook Seawolves a run for their money on Saturday night, taking the second-seeded Seawolves to the wire on Long Island before the hosts clamped down and held Maine scoreless for the final 4:34 of this one to secure the 54-46 victory.
The Black Bears maintained the lead all the way down to the 2:15 mark of the second half, but would miss eight shots over the final 4:34 to allow Stony Brook to run out a 10-0 run to the finish line and the 54-46 victory.
Sergio El Darwich led all scorers with 18 points, alongside five rebounds and a pair of assists. Nedeljko Prijovic tied a season-high with 12 boards on the night, and Stephane Ingo joined him with 12 of his own, a career-high for the redshirt freshman.
Maine won the rebounding battle 42-35, including an 11-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Another night with lopsided foul line appearances plagued the Black Bears, as they went 5-6 from the charity stripe while Stony Brook posted a 16-20 night. With the win, Stony Brook runs their win streak over Maine up to 20 straight games.
MAINE LEADERS
Andrew Fleming, who has registered double-digit scoring totals in 19 of his 26 appearances, guides the Black Bears, ranking tenth in the America East with 14.5 points per game to go along with a team-high 6.3 rebounds. Sergio El Darwich joins Fleming in double-figures, adding a team-high 14.7 points (ninth in AE) and 5.1 rebounds, and sits fourth in the conference with 4.0 assists a game and second in the America East with 1.8 steals a game. Stephane Ingo ranks fourth in the conference with 1.2 blocks a game.
A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS
The last meeting between these two came back in January, as the Wildcats held off a late Maine rally to notch a 57-51 victory. A 15-4 run between the 12:41 and 6:04 mark of the second half brought the Black Bears all the way back to within three of the Wildcats after being down by as many as 14. UNH got their defensive act together in the final two minutes, however, holding Maine to just three points while scoring seven of their own to lock up the 57-51 victory.
At this point, the Wildcats rank first in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (30.27) and third in total rebounds per game (42.08). The effort is led by three athletes who rank in the top-ten of the conference in rebounding, Sean Sutherlin (9.1, first), Nick Guadarrama (7.4, third), and Jayden Martinez (6.5, ninth).
Offensively, no one player dominates the UNH attack. Four different players average double-digit scoring totals, led by Guadarrama at 13.0. Sean Sutherlin is a double-double threat every night, averaging 12.5 points and 9.1 rebounds a game, and ranks second in the conference and 60th in the nation with nine already.
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.
