ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine men’s basketball team wasn’t able to bring home a win in Saturday’s America East championship game. But at a watch party in the team’s hometown, fans were still full of excitement and pride for the season that the Black Bears and coach Chris Markwood put together.
Mike Archer was among the crowd at Orono Brewing Company watching the game. The UMaine alum said the team’s success this season along with success from the men’s hockey team and other programs “brings back memories” of his time at the school from 1987-1990, when teams were “really competitive.” He feels like UMaine athletics have returned to that level.
“The end result of today has nothing to do with how proud I am of our university and the job that Coach Markwood has done,” Archer said after the 77-59 loss for UMaine against Bryant University. “Just really looking forward to what’s on the horizon, because I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
The Black Bears entered the season as the No. 4 team in an America East preseason poll. Their third-place finish wasn’t drastically different from that early projection. But their run in the America East tournament has defied recent history for the program. The team won its first home playoff game in 21 years, beat defending champion Vermont on the road for the first time since 2011 and had a chance for its first ever trip to the NCAA tournament.
That last goal remains elusive, for now. But this UMaine team has returned a sense of excitement to the program.
“Even just going to the games in the Pit has been a vibe lately,” said Orono Brewing co-owner Asa Marsh-Sachs, highlighting the way members of the football team in particular have shown up to support the basketball team. “There’s just a ton of excitement around this team, and all these guys just playing their hearts out. It’s awesome.”
Marsh-Sachs said Markwood has done an “incredible” job leading the team.
“He’s really turned it around,” Marsh-Sachs said. “They guys seem to really relate to him.”
Archer was also complimentary of the third-year head coach, who inherited a team that went 6-23 the year before he arrived. UMaine finished 20-14 this season. Markwood played for South Portland in high school and at UMaine for the final two years of his college career.
“It’s nice to have a head coach that played here,” Archer added. “Following the team this year was just a lot of fun, which is why I’m here today supporting them.”
Tim and Lisa Hall from Orono are UMaine women’s basketball fans and primarily follow that team. But the men’s squad certainly had their attention and support on Saturday.
“When these guys got to the finals, we said we had to come watch this,” Tim Hall said at the watch party. Sustained momentum could “absolutely” help turn them into bigger men’s basketball fans as well, he said.
“They’ve been building for a few years, and we think the coach, Markwood, he’s really good at developing this team,” Hall added.
In addition to being a UMaine fan and alum, Archer is also the Orono High School athletic director. He said that success at UMaine can have a positive impact on younger athletes at the high school, middle school and elementary levels as well.
“When teams are winning, people tend to follow them a lot more and get more excited,” Archer said. “For our younger kids I think it’s really important that our flagship university is doing well in all of their athletics. I think that translates right into our high school sports as well.”
Marsh-Sachs, the brewery co-owner, said Saturday’s watch party topped the list of any Orono Brewing-hosted event involving UMaine men’s basketball.
“This is definitely the most exciting one I’ve been to,” he said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am for next year with Ace Flagg up here, too. I hope to do a lot more of it.”
Ace Flagg has committed to play at UMaine next year, and recently won another high school state championship, this time in North Carolina, giving him titles in three different states. He and his twin brother Cooper helped Nokomis win a Maine high school state championship as freshmen.
Despite the America East championship loss, the excitement for this UMaine men’s basketball team remained obvious on Saturday afternoon.
“If you were to ask the general Maine population what their expectations were with the men’s basketball team this year, I think they far exceeded our expectations,” Archer said. “Would have been nice to get a win today, but just being relevant again and being competitive again is what this area needs.”
