Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Black Bears (16-8, 8-3) at Stony Brook (16-7, 8-2)

Wednesday, Feb. 10, 7 p.m.
Pritchard Gym, Stony Brook, N.Y.

The Black Bears toppled Stony Brook, 67-61, in Orono. Since then, the Seawolves have won five straight. While UMaine will be playing its third game in five days (two of them on the road), Stony Brook has been off since Feb. 3.

The winner of this game will remain in strong contention for the regular-season title. The loser will need some help down the stretch as Vermont put itself in a strong position with its win at BU Tuesday.

The match-up features two physical teams. Stony Brook's frontcourt of Dallis Joyner (7.7 points, 7.1 rebounds) and Tommy Brenton (7.9 points, 9.3 rebounds) are glass eaters. Muhammad El-Amin (15.1 points, 3.5 rebounds), a 6-5 guard, leads the Seawolves in scoring.

Guard Bryan Dougher (13.9 points) is one of the top 3-point threats in America East.

For the Black Bears to win: Front line of Sean McNally, Troy Barnies, Murphy Burnatowski, along with subs Malachi Peay and Mike Allison must continue the strong play from the past couple games. ... While Stony Brook has some terrific ball-hounds, they rely heavily on El-Amin, Dougher and guard Chris Martin for scoring. UMaine may have a little more balance. Use that offensive balance to gain an advantage. ... Savor the atmosphere. As in years past whenever UMaine fields a contender, the team enjoys going on the road for big games in front of enthusiastic crowds. It takes forever (if ever) for the bandwagon to fill up at Alfond, so Black Bear teams relish the roadies.

UMaine leads the all-time series with Stony Brook, 12-8.

No comments: