Huge win. No, make that HUGE win for the Black Bears.
Yes, Binghamton was only 6-10 overall entering the game and yes, the Bearcats are operating under a cloud (if you don't know what happened to the hoops program at Binghamton by now, you don't care anyway) and yes, this is not even close to the same team that won the league title and went to the NCAA tournament last year.
Still, the Events Center has been somewhat a house of horrors for the Black Bears (UMaine's only win at the EC was against Boston U. in the quarterfinals of the 2005 conference tournament) and Binghamton was coming off two very impressive wins against LaSalle and at rival Albany. Binghamton draws large and loud crowds of supportive knowledgeable basketball fans and students -- making it a tough venue for the opposition.
In short, Binghamton has a home-court advantage surpassing just about every team in America East, except maybe Albany.
The statistic that jumps out at me was 14 turnovers. In 45 minutes of basketball against a team known for its physical, hounding defense, the Black Bears only turned it over 14 times. UMaine also fought its way to 15 offensive rebounds and a huge advantage at the foul line.
Terrance Mitchell led the way with 22 points. He was 15 of 18 from the foul line. Sean McNally had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Freshman Mike Allison scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half. He also had five rebounds and hit 7 of 8 from the foul line.
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2 comments:
This is the best news I've heard all day. Lifts my spirits after the Patriots debacle. Any road win in conference is huge. Stony Brook at home on Saturday could determine if Maine is an upper echelon team or a pretender.
Have to admit, this one surprised me. Coming off the tough loss to Vermont, going on the road to arguably the toughest place to play in the league, this had the makings of a "fall-back" game. Have to give them credit for hanging tough and getting it in overtime. I'm going to practice cautious optimism at this point. If Bears improve offensively and maintain the defensive intensity ... we'll see. Stony is legit. Another barometer game.
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