The University of Maine basketball team fell to 0-2 in America East action after being defeated by University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 69-62.
TJ Biel supplied the early offense for Maine as he had seven of the first 10 points in the early back-and-forth battle.
UMBC was able to build up a double-digit lead through the second half of the opening 20 minutes as it took a 32-20 lead into halftime.
Biel had nine points and eight rebounds while Logan Carey had six points and a steal.
Caleb Crawford had five points off the bench in eight minutes of work.
After falling behind by much as 14 points with a little over 10 minutes to go in the second half, the Black Bears cut the deficit in half on a 10-2 run as the score stood at 52-45 heading into a media timeout.
Maine continued to battle back as Biel scored his career-high of 22 points with 5 minutes to go in the half of a four-point game, 54-50 in favor of UMBC.
The Black Bears were unable to complete the comeback as UMBC was able to come away with the victory, 69-62.
Biel scored a career-high 27 points on 11-for-18 shooting.
Biel registered his first career double-double as he had 10 rebounds to go with his 27 points. He added three blocks on the defensive end.
Ace Flagg had six points, five rebounds and two steals in his first collegiate start.
The Black Bears (2-15) head to NJIT for their second of three-straight road games next time out on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
