Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine men's basketball team came up short in its home opener, losing to Merrimack by a final of 71-65 in a back and forth affair which featured 17 lead changes and six ties.

Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish guided Maine with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from downtown. Kristians Feierbergs, who registered seven rebounds, and Peter Filipovity each ended with 12 points while Kellen Tynes rounded out four double-digit scorers with 11 points to go along with five steals.

Maine finished the contest 22-of-55 (40.0) from the floor while hitting 7-of-22 triples and going 14-of-18 from the free throw line. Maine edged out Merrimack in the rebounding column, 33-31, while forcing 15 Warrior turnovers.

Merrimack led for the majority of the first half as Maine continued to charge at the lead. The Warriors took their largest lead of the game, 23-14, with 6:44 left in the opening half.

Maine responded with a 14-6 run to regain the lead late in the half. Wright-McLeish began the sprint for Maine with eight-straight points including two triples. Feierbergs, working off a turnover, scored off a feed from Tynes to give Maine its first lead since the 18:01 mark, 26-25.

The Black Bears would enter the half with a 29-28 edge.

Maine stretched its lead out to five, the largest lead of the evening for the Black Bears, with a 4-0 run to begin the second half.

The teams would trade the lead 13 times in the second half.

Merrimack ran its advantage out to five following a 7-0 run with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

Maine responded, cutting the lead to one on a second chance bucket by Quion Burns.

The Black Bears kept charging and eventually would take the lead on three free throws from Wright-McLeish with 3:54 on the clock.

Merrimack answered Maine's stretch, regaining the lead and building it out to six following a 9-2 run.

Maine cut the lead to three on a triple from Tynes with 26-seconds remaining but could not get any closer, falling in the end by a final of 71-65.

The Black Bears return to action on Nov. 16 when they begin a three-game neutral site stretch in Jacksonville, Fla. by taking on Northwestern State at North Florida at 4 p.m.

-UMaine-