Orono, ME – The University of Maine men's basketball team returns to The Pit on Saturday, Feb. 18 to face off against the Great Danes of UAlbany. The Black Bears look to lock in a trip to the America East Tournament with a victory.

ABOUT THE BLACK BEARS:

The Black Bears are coming off of a defeat at NJIT back on Saturday, Feb. 11, 50-65. Maine sits at a 10-15 record and 4-8 in conference play, which places them in a tie for seventh place in the conference playoff standings. NJIT holds the tiebreaker over the Black Bears.

The Black Bears defense has continued its dominant run that remains in the top-10 in the NCAA after another week of being one of the best teams in the America East and in the country in forcing turnovers by way of the steal. Maine leads the America East in steals per game at 9.6 per contest, which is good for a national ranking of seventh, up two places from a week ago. The Black Bears defense was nationally ranked fifth back on Feb. 8, their highest mark on the season. Leading the way in that category for the Black Bears is Sophomore Point Guard, Kellen Tynes.

Tynes is one of the best defenders in the country as he leads the NCAA in total steals and steals per game. He heads into the matchup against Bryant with 77 total steals and averaging 3.10 steals per game. His steals per game average puts Tynes on pace to set the Black Bears single-season record. Tynes has recorded at least one steal in 24 of the 25 games for Maine.

Tynes is putting up his incredible defensive numbers all while posting the most minutes per game in the America East, averaging 34:52 time on the floor per game. That time ranks him 77^th in the country for time played per game.
 
PREVIEW ON THE GREAT DANES:
 
The Great Danes are coming off of a win at against UMBC on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 81-74. The win was only their second conference win of the season and it kept their post season hopes alive.
 
Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and Jonathan Beagle both led the team in scoring as they had 16 points each in the winning performance. Three other Great Danes reached double-digit scoring in the well-balanced effort for the win.
 
UAlbany shot 46% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range in the win. They shot 86.7% from the free throw line on 13 of 15 attempts.
The Great Danes forced eight turnovers on the night.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR MAINE:

The Black Bears are coming off of a defeat at NJIT back on Saturday, Feb. 11, 50-65.
 
Kellen Tynes led the Black bears in scoring on the afternoon as he finished with 14 points on seven of 13 shooting from the field. He brought in four rebounds and had four steals.

Jaden Clayton finished with nine points and three steals.

 The Black Bears shot 40.4% from the field in the contest.
 
They forced 18 turnovers while only committing 13 of their own.

 
JUOZAPAITIS FIGHTING FOR CONFERENCE SCORING TITLE
 
Gedi Juozapaitis has continued his dominating scoring run over the America East for the Black Bears. He heads to the matchup against UAlbany ranked third in the America East in conference only games in as he is averaging 16.3 points per game through 12 conference matchups. His 15.0 per game in scoring is good for the fourth most in the conference for all games played. He is shooting 45.2% from the field and 40.0% from three-point range on the season.
 
Juozapaitis holds his lead in three-pointers made in conference games with 32 made three-pointers, one more than second place. He is shooting the sixth-best percentage from three-point range (38.1%), among qualified leaders, all while attempting the most three-pointers per game at 2.7 per contest in conference only games.
 
Juozapaitis is putting up his numbers at a very efficient rate in conference only games as he currently ranks 17^th in field goal%.
 
TYNES SITS TWO STEALS AWAY FROM SECOND ALL-TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY
 
Kellen Tynes is the best of the best in the country when it comes to stealing the ball as he recently picked up another four steals at NJIT, giving him an NCAA best 77 at an NCAA best 3.1 per game clip.
 
His recent five-steal performance back against NJIT was the sixth time on the season where Tynes had picked up five or more steals in a single game for the Black Bears. He has registered at least one steal in 24 of the 25 games on the season.
 
FILIPOVITY PUSHING FOR SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
 
Peter Filipovity has made his case to be in consideration for the America East Sixth Man of the Year as he came off the bench for his sixth double-double of the season for the Black Bears back against UMBC back on Saturday, Feb. 4 and followed up his performance with 13 points and eight rebounds against Vermont. He most recently had seven points on three of four shooting and grabbed three rebounds at NJIT.
 
Filipovity has been a difficult man to stop when he has entered the game as he is averaging 9.9 points per game in just 21.1 minutes per night, which equals out to 0.47 points per minute played. He also leads the Black Bears in rebounds at 6.1 per contest and finds himself in 11^th overall in the conference in conference only games in rebounding as he is grabbing 5.9 per America East game.
 
WRIGHT-MCLEISH CLOSING IN ON 100
 
Ja'Shonté Wright-McLeish has been a consistent scorer for the Black Bears over his tenure with the team. He has averaged 5.9 points per game over his collegiate career and he is looking to top the 100-made three-pointers at some point during his career. He has made 36 three-pointers this season, giving him 84 for his career.