The University of Maine’s surging men’s basketball team put seven players in double figures as the Black Bears registered their fourth win in five games, 103-51, over the University of Maine-Augusta on Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gym in Orono on Tuesday night.
The Black Bears improved to 6-4 while the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Moose are now 1-7 overall, including three games against community colleges, and 0-5 vs. four-year institutions.
Senior forward and Appalachian State transfer Christopher Mantis led the way for the Black Bears with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Quion Burns had 13 points and seven rebounds and senior guard A.J. Lopez and junior forward Keelan Steele each had 12 points. Lopez also had four rebounds and two steals and Steele had two rebounds.
Sophomore guard Logan Carey chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists; graduate student guard Kellen Tynes registered 10 points, eight assists and five steals and sophomore guard Isaac Bonilla had 10 points, three assists and two steals.
Junior guard Jaden Clayton dished out eight assists to go with three steals and four points.
Senior forward Yonas Medfu and sophomore forward Isaiah Searles paced the Moose with 12 points apiece. Searles also had three blocked shots and two steals and Medfu grabbed three rebounds.
Junior guard Donte Sharp had 10 points, two rebounds and two steals and sophomore guard T.J. Wilson had four assists and four rebounds to go with four points.
The Black Bears forced 24 turnovers leading to a 26-8 edge in points off turnovers and a 33-1 advantage in fast-break points.They outrebounded the Moose 44-26 and shot 55.7 percent from the floor compared to UMA’s 35.8 percent.
The Moose led 23-21 with 9:03 remaining in the first half but then the Black Bears got to work, outscoring the Moose 31-4 for the remainder of the half.
Mantis had 12 first-half points and Steele had 10 while Tynes chipped in with seven points, six assists and four steals. Burns had six points, Lopez had five and Clayton had six assists and three steals to accompany his four points.
Searles’ eight points, Sharp’s seven and Medfu’s six paced UMA over the first 20 minutes.
UMaine will hit the road for a Sunday game at noon against Fordham (New York) while the Moose are in action on Wednesday night at 8 when they travel to Concord, N.H. for a conference game against NHTI.
