BURLINGTON, VT – The University of Maine men's basketball team fell to the Catamounts of Vermont, 81-68 Saturday afternoon.
 
The Black Bears came out of gates on fire from behind the arc, knocking down 4 of their first 5 chances from deep. Ja'shonté Wright-McLeish buried his first 3 chances from deep in the first 5 minutes of the contest.
 
Maine found itself holding onto an early lead and increasing the lead up to 7 at the 13:19 mark.
 
Ben Shungu would tie up the contest with 9:38 left in the contest for Catamounts.
 
Wright-McLeish would keep his shots falling as he buried his fourth-straight 3-pointer to start the contest on the following possession to get the Black Bears back in front.
 
Following the early lead by the Catamounts, an 8-6 score, the Black Bears found themselves holding onto the lead until 3:05 left in the first half.  Isiah Powell buried a 3-pointer to give the Catamounts the 2-point lead.
 
Vermont would take the lead into the half, a 42-37 contest.
 
Wright-McLeish was the story of the first half for the Black Bears, as he shot 5-5 from the field, all from 3-point range, which tied his career high in total points for a game in his career.
 
Vermont went into the half with a trio of players at 8-points apiece.
 
Vermont came out of the half as the dominate team on both sides of the ball, starting off the half on a 17-4 run in the first 6:29.
 
The Black Bears would start to get the offense going in the later stages of the second half, as following a layup by Stephane Ingo, Maine was within 9 of the Catamounts after having trailed by 10 points at the 11:52 mark of the second half.
 
That would be as close as the Black Bears would get to taking back the lead as the Catamounts would hold on to win the contest, 81-68.
 
Maine was led offensively by Vukasin Masic, who scored 17 pts and added a pair of rebounds and assists. Wright-McLeish tied his career-high in points with 15.
 
The Catamounts were led by Ryan Davis, who dropped 21 points on 9-14 shooting. Ben Shungu chipped in with 19 points of his own.
 
The Black Bears will return home to play host to the Hartford Hawks on Monday, Jan. 31. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 P.M.
 
-UMaine-