Troy, NY – The University of Maine men's basketball team picked up their third consecutive victory on Saturday night as they defeated the Great Danes of UAlbany, 72-68.
 
The Great Danes got on the scoreboard first on the night as Jonathan Beagle made a dunk.
 
Maine got their first bucket on the night as Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish made a layup off of the feed by Gedi Juozapaitis.
 
UAlbany got out to an early six-point lead as they moved out to an 8-2 lead before Gedi Juozapaitis scored five-straight points to get the Black Bears within one heading into the opening media timeout of the contest.
 
The Black Bears grabbed their first lead of the night out of the media timeout as Kristians Feierbergs buried a layup.
 
The Great Danes retook the lead as they went on an 12-0 run to push their lead up to 13 points at 26-13, capped off by a Jonathan Beagle layup.
 
The Great Danes continued to hold their double-digit lead before the Black Bears got their offense going with just under six minutes remaining in the first half as they scored 10 points to UAlbany's five to make it a five-point game at the half, 34-29.
 
Gedi Juozapaitis led all scorers in the opening half as he scored 11 points for the Black Bears.
 
Peter Filipovity was solid in the opening half as he had eight points and four rebounds off the bench for Maine.
 
Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and Aaron Reddish both had eight points to lead the Great Danes to their halftime lead.
 
The Black Bears came out in the second half a different offensive team as they buried three of their first four shots to tie up the contest at 36-36. Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish buried both of his shot attempts to start the half, good for five points.
 
Maine continued to keep up their offensive dominance in the second half as Maine knocked down four of their following five shots to make it a seven for nine shooting start to the second half as they took the lead to 47-42 over the Great Danes with 13:40 remaining in the half.
 
The Great Danes responded with a 6-0 run of their own to retake the lead at 49-47, capped off by a pair of Jonathan Beagle free throws.
 
Maine tied the contest up at 56-56 with 6:58 remaining following back-to-back possessions where they registered a steal, one by Jaden Clayton and the other by the NCAA leader in steals, Kellen Tynes.
 
Both teams began trading buckets throughout the closing six minutes of the second half, resulting in six lead changes and two ties.
 
The Black Bears came out on the right side of the exchanging of buckets as they pushed their lead to four points after a three-pointer by Ata Turgut.
 
The Black Bears came away with the victory over the Great Danes, 72-68.
 
Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish turned in a stellar night for the Black Bears as he scored 16 points on seven of 10 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
Gedi Juozapaitis (15), Jaden Clayton (12) and Kellen Tynes (11) all reached double-digits in scoring on the night.
 
Maine forced 15 turnovers on the night.
 
The Black Bears (9-12, 3-5 AE) will remain on the road as they make a trip to Bryant on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 P.M.
 
-UMaine-