Orono, ME – The University of Maine men's basketball took down Bryant on Saturday afternoon, 79-72.
 
Bryant began the first half as the much stronger team on offense as they pushed their early lead up to 13 points with 7:36 remaining in the half before Maine started to chip away at the early deficit.
 
Maine answered the run with a 11-0 run to make a two-point contest before tying up the contest with 2:24 left in the first half on an AJ Lopez layup.
 
Bryant was able to retake a slim lead heading into halftime as the score stood at 35-33.
 
Jaden Clayton scored a game-high 12 points in the first half. He also added three rebounds, two assists and a steal to his first half stat line,
 
Peter Filipovity (8) and Kristians Feierbergs (5) rebounded the first leading scores in the first half for the Black Bears.
 
The two sides started out the second half trading buckets as neither team moved their lead to more than five points before the Black Bears went on a 12-0 run with 12:32 remaining in the half to take an eight-point lead at 53-45.
 
The Black Bears never surrendered their lead back to the Bulldogs as they took control of the contest before icing the game at the free throw line.
 
Maine picked up the victory over Bryant, 79-72.
 
Clayton was the story of the night for the Black Bears as he had a career-high 24 points (previous best was 16) to go along with six assists, five rebounds and a steal.
 
Peter Filipovity grabbed a double-double for the Black Bears as he had 21 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Lopez came off the bench and scored 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
Maine (11-12, 3-5) picked up their third win in America East action, completing the first half of the conference schedule.
 
The Black Bears head to New Hampshire for their next contest on Saturday, Feb. 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 P.M.
 
-UMaine-