Stony Brook, NY - The University of Maine men's basketball team came up just short in their second-half comeback effort at Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon.

Maine jumped out to an early lead as they took a five-point advantage into the under-12 media timeout at 18-13 before Stony Brook responded with an extended 18-5 run to take a 31-23 lead into the last media timeout of the first half.

Maine got the score back to within four points heading into halftime as they trailed 34-30.

Christopher Mantis led the way for the Black Bears with 8 points in the opening half on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting from the field.

Quion Burns had 5 points and 5 rebounds while Jaden Clayton had 6 points and 3 assists.

Kellen Tynes had 3 steals and 2 blocks on the defensive end of the floor.

Stony Brook built their lead back up to double-digits as they led by 14 points with 7:14 remaining in the second half.

Mine got it back to within six on the back of an 8-0 run with 5:19 remaining in the contest before Stony Brook pushed the lead back out to double-digits.

Maine netted back-to-back buckets within 5 seconds of each other to get it back to within 6 at 72-66 with 1:08 remaining in the second half after a three-pointer by Mantis and a steal and layup by Clayton.

Maine continued to up the pressure on defense as they got it to within two points at 74-72, but the Black Bears came up just short in their comeback as Stony Brook picked up the win.

Tynes and Clayton each finished with 15 points and 4 assists for Maine. Tynes had 4 steals and 2 blocks while Clayton had 3 steals of his own.

AJ Lopez finished with 13 points while Mantis finished with 11 off the bench.

Burns finished with a team-high 7 rebounds.

Maine (8-6) wraps up non-conference action next time out as they return to Orono to host their "Camper Day" at The Pit on Sunday, Dec. 29 against Boston University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 PM with post game autographs with the team for all kids in attendance.

-UMaine-