Burlington, VT – The University of Maine men's basketball team was defeated in their conference opener at Vermont on Saturday afternoon, 65-58.
 
Jaden Clayton forced a steal early in the first quarter and hit Kellen Tynes for the breakaway dunk as Maine scored the opening bucket before Vermont went on an 11-0 run down to the first media timeout at 15:05.
 
The Black Bears responded with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit down to three points at 13-10 midway through the first half.
 
After trailing by double-digits, the Black Bears battled back to take their second lead of the first half at 25-24 following a Tynes steal and layup, their first lead since 2-0.
 
Maine carried their lead into halftime at 30-26.
 
Kellen Tynes led all scorers as he had 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting. He added four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
 
Maine had five other players score at least one bucket.
 
The Black Bears continued to lead until 11:28 remaining in the second half when the Catamounts regained the lead at 43-42.
 
Vermont held onto their slim lead as they defeated the Black Bears, 65-58.
 
Kellen Tynes finished with a game-high 19 points. He added six rebounds, two assists and three steals to his game total of stats.
 
Peter Filipovity (11 pts, 8 reb) and Jaden Clayton (10 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl) rounded out the top-three performers on the afternoon for Maine.
 
Maine (8-8, 0-1 AE) returns to Maine on Thursday, Jan. 11 to host UNH at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 P.M.
 
-UMaine-