Box Score BANGOR, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball team defeated the UNH Wildcats in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle Monday night, 71-64.
The Wildcats got out to an early lead as they got their largest lead of the contest just 3:31 into the contest off of a Jayden Martinez 3-pointer.
From that point on, it was all Black Bears in what was an onslaught from 3-point range for the Black Bears.
Vukasin Masic got the Black Bears going in the long-range shot department as he buried his first of the contest at the 16:15 mark of the first half. He followed up with another 3-pointer just two possessions later to give his squad the lead, in which they would never lose for the rest of the contest.
The Black Bears would head into the half with a 9-point lead. Masic lead all scorers with 12 at the break, with teammates Ja'Shonte Wright-Mcleish (8) and
Maks Klanjscek (7) right behind him. The Black Bears buried 6 of 12 three's and 13 of 27 shots in the half.
The Wildcats were lead in the first half by Martinez (9) as they could only muster up 23 points on 9-30 shooting.
The Wildcats would come into the second half going on a 9-0 run, but the Black Bears would quickly answer with their own 16-0 run that ended at 11:20 left in the half. The largest scoring run of the season for the Black Bears would cap off their largest lead of the contest *18).
The Wildcats would try to trim back into the lead created by the Black Bears, but to little avail as the Black Bears held onto their big lead to capture their first Conference win of the season.
Maine was led by career highs from Masic (25 pts) and Klanjscek (25 pts). The Black Bears would lead in the contest for a total of 34 minutes and 6 seconds. Maine was propelled on defense by the return of
Stephane Ingo (7 reb, 3 blocks) following his lengthy absence due to injury.
The Black Bears shot an impressive 14-28 from 3-point range, two shy of the program record, while finishing 25-51 overall in shooting.
UNH was led by Nick Guardarrama (20) and Marco Foster (17).
The Black Bears and Wildcats face off for a second time on Wednesday, Jan 26 in Durham.
-UMaine-
