Orono, ME - The University of Maine men's basketball program will host Holy Cross on Sunday, Nov. 24 as part of a doubleheader with the women's program at The Pit. The men will kickoff the doubleheader at Noon with the women to follow at approximately 2:30.
The University of Maine men's basketball program will honor Hall of Famer Skip Chappelle with a halftime ceremony during the first game of the doubleheader.
GAME INFORMATION:
DATE:Â Sunday, Nov. 24
TIME:Â 12:00 PM
SITE: Orono, ME - The Pit
2023-24 RECORDS: Maine 2-3Â - Holy Cross 4-2
VIDEO:Â
ESPN+
LISTEN: goblackbears.com | 92.9 The Ticket
LIVE STATS
TWITTER:Â
@maineMBB
GAME NOTES
As part of the doubleheader, the Black Bears will join forces with Marden's Surplus and Salvage for a sock drive. Fans are asked to bring socks to the game and distribute them in bins located in the lobby area. Socks collected will go to support local organizations in need. One ticket gets you in to see both games! Fans are asked to arrive early to support the men's basketball team when it takes on Holy Cross at noon and make sure to be present for a special halftime ceremony at the men's game as we recognize former coach and all-conference men's basketball player Skip Chappelle.
Note: Concessions services at Memorial Gymnasium is now cashless and will remain cashless throughout the 2024-25 season.
- Last time out -Â
The Black Bears fell at Richmond on Sunday night in a close contest, 70-66. The Black Bears grabbed an early lead at 9-5 as Kellen Tynes had a pair of early buckets for four points. Richmond tied the contest up and the first half was back-and-forth for the rest of its entirety as neither side could get more than a five-point advantage heading into the break with the Black Bears leading, 27-25.Â
Richmond began the second half of a 8-2 run to grab the lead, which they didn't give up for the rest of the contest as they defeated the Black Bears, 70-66. Lopez had a career day as he buried a career-high five three-pointers and tied his career high with 19 points. Tynes finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and one steal for the Black Bears. Quion Burns had 10 points and eight rebounds.
- Two-Time Defensive Player of the Year -Â
Kellen Tynes is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the America East, an award he was won in back-to-back seasons at the University of Maine. He is the only player in program history to win the award, which in turn has led to him being named a Left Driesell Award Finalist in back-to-back seasons. He led all of the NCAA in steals in 2022-23 with 98. He has 168 steals across his first two seasons with Maine.
To go along with his two DPOY Awards, Tynes has been the second leading scorer for the Black Bears across his two seasons at Maine. He averaged 14.3 PPG in 2022-23 and 12.6 PPG last season, resulting in back-to-back America East All-Conference Third Team selections. Tynes currently sits at 993 career points.
- Conference Leading Assists -
Jaden Clayton made an immediate impact with the Black Bears when he set foot on campus in the fall of 2022 as he earned the title of Starting Point Guard for the Black Bears. Since his debut game, he leads all of the America East in total assists with 259, averaging 4.0 for his career across his 66 games started.
To pair with his assist numbers, Clayton has taken strides in improving his scoring and shooting percentages over the past two seasons at Maine. His scoring increased from 6.9 PPG to 9.2 PPG from his freshmen to sophomore season while shooting at a higher percentage from the field (38.8%-41.2%), three-point range (26.2%-30.0%) and at the free throw line (72.9%-79.7%).
Clayton had his biggest game of the season against Brown as he scored 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from three-point range. He also added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.
-Wings Making Impacts-
AJ Lopez and Quion Burns have come out of the gates picking up where they both left off a season ago as they are the top-two scorers for the Black Bears. Lopez is averaging 14.8 PPG on 44/41/94 shooting splits while Burns is averaging 11.4 PPG on 35/15/73 shooting splits. Burns leads the Black Bears in rebounding as he is averaging 7.6 per contest. He registered 10 rebounds in back-to-back games from 11/6-11/10.
Lopez has averaged 17.0 PPG in his last four games as he has helped Maine win two of their last four contests.
- Fourth in America East Preseason Poll -
Maine was selected fourth in the America East preseason poll following a 7-9 Conference record last season, which put them in a three-way tie for fourth place. Maine ultimately was the sixth seed in the conference tournament due to tiebreakers.
The fourth place in the preseason poll for the Black Bears is their highest since the 2010-11 season. Maine is looking to host their first ever playoff game since the America East went to a higher-seed hosting format in 2015 and their first postseason victory since the 2004 Black Bears.
- 30 and Counting -
Since taking over at the helm of the Black Bears in the summer of 2022, Chris Markwood has developed the Black Bears into a Top-60 defensive program, which is leading to more victories per season than Maine has seen in over a decade. His 28 wins across his opening two season are the most wins in a two-year span since the 2009-11 Black Bears that won 34 games.
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