Bangor, ME – The University of Maine men's basketball team was defeated in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle by New Hampshire, 71-58.
 
Both sides came out of the gates shooting very high percentages over the opening minutes of the contest as the Black Bears started three for four from the field as the Wildcats began five of eight as they moved out to a 11-7 lead heading into the opening media timeout.
 
Maine took the lead back at 13:51 into the contest as Gedi Juozapaitis hit a layup to take a 14-13 lead. Both sides scored on their following possessions for the Black Bears to retake the lead heading into the second media timeout.
 
The two sides continued trading the lead back and forth throughout the first half with neither side pushing out to a lead of more than four points until late in the first half when the Wildcats went on a 12-0 run on four consecutive three-pointers to get themselves out to a 38-30 lead heading into halftime.
 
Gedi Juozapaitis led the Black Bears in scoring in the open half as he scored seven points.
 
Kyree Brown led all scorers in the first half as he scored 11 points for the Wildcats on three of four shooting, including three three-pointers and a pair of free throws.
 
The Black Bears scored the opening basketball of the second half off of a Kellen Tynes jump shot, but it was all Wildcats for the following few minutes as they went on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 45-32 over the Black Bears with just over 16 minutes remaining in the second half.
 
The Wildcats got to their biggest lead of the game at the 12:44 mark in the second half as they led by 19 points. The Black Bears began to mount a comeback as they went on a 11-2 run to cut the deficit to single-digits with 8:39 left on the clock.
 
The Wildcats moved back out to a double-digit lead before the Black Bears cut it down to single-digits for the second time in the second half as Kellen Tynes hit a layup to make it a 64-55 with 3:33 remaining in the game.
 
The Black Bears kept chipping away as Jaden Clayton hit a three-point shot off of a great pass by Kristians Feierbergs to make it a six-point game with just over three minutes remaining.
 
The Wildcats would hold onto their lead as time expired on the night as they picked up their third America East Conference win, a 71-58 win over the Black Bears.
 
Maine was led in scoring by Gedi Juozapaitis who dropped 19 points in the losing performance. Kellen Tynes scored 13 on the night as Kristians Feierbergs picked up a season-high 10 rebounds.
 
Kyree Brown led the Wildcats in scoring on the night with 22.
 
Maine (6-10, 0-3 AE) is back in action in a road matchup at UMBC on Saturday, Jan. 14. That game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M.
 
-UMaine-