ORONO – Holding a seven-point lead with just 2:10 remaining, the University of Maine men’s basketball team was on the verge of its ninth win in a non-conference Sunday matinee against Boston University at the Memorial Gym in Orono.
But the Terriers had other ideas.
UMaine never scored again and the Terriers rattled off the game’s final 10 points to earn a 59-56 victory.
BU improved to 6-7 while UMaine fell to 8-7.
Christopher Mantis’ 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining gave UMaine a 56-49 lead before Kyrone Alexander began the comeback with a contested 3-pointer from the left elbow off a Miles Brewster pass with 1:46 remaining.
UMaine’s Kellen Tynes had his 12-foot jumper rattle in and out of the basket and Brewster grabbed the rebound and generated a fast break which resulted in an open Michael McNair hitting a three from the right corner to cut the lead to one.
Tynes was fouled with 36 seconds left but missed the front end of the one-and-one and Malcolm Chimezie hauled in the rebound.
Chimezie gave BU the lead for good with 20 seconds left when he took an Alexander pass and converted a contested lay-in over the front rim.
“It was a high-low pass,” said senior forward Chimezie. “Ky has done a really good job all season of finding me in positions where I can score. He’s a great playmaker. He put me in a position I’m comfortable with and it worked out.”
UMaine called a timeout and drew up a play but Mantis’ runner was short with three seconds left, BU grabbed the rebound and, following a video review to see if a BU player had gotten a piece of Mantis’ shot, the Terriers received the ball and Ben Palacios iced the game with two free throws after he was fouled on the inbounds pass.
Sophomore guard McNair said the key down the stretch was his team was able to get stops.
“We pride ourselves on getting defensive stops and then getting a good shot after that,” said McNair.
“Bottom line is if you’re up seven with two minutes left, you’ve got to close it out,” said UMaine head coach Chris Markwood. “We had opportunities. We missed the front end of a one-and-one, gave up a free throw rebound and the two threes really hurt us.
“Those two threes down the stretch gave them some life and they finished it out. They executed better down the stretch,” Markwood added.
“We just didn’t execute what we’re supposed to do (down the stretch),” said graduate student guard Tynes. “We have to grow from it, learn from it.
“I missed free throws late. If I had hit those, we would have done better. It’s on me,” said Tynes.
UMaine led 27-19 at the half and BU coach Joe Jones said his team had to simplify the game in the second half and get the ball inside or drive to the basket.
“We couldn’t run our offense in the first half. Maine is really tough. They do a great job defensively and they’re so well-coached. They disrupt your offense. We had to drive it in or throw it in (to the paint). And then we made some plays late to win the game,” added Jones who was “really proud” of his players for the comeback.
McNair finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Terriers. Alexander added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists and Chimezie wound up with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Palacios had seven points and three rebounds and Otto Landrum had a game-high eight rebounds to go with four points and two assists.
Tynes paced UMaine with 17 points, four assists and three steals which were all game-highs.
Mantis had 12 points and two rebounds, Quion Burns had eight points and three rebounds. Keelan Steele and A,J. Lopez each had six points and Lopez also had three assists and three rebounds. Jaden Clayton had a team-high five rebounds to go with four points, three assists and two steals.
BU outrebounded UMaine 40-25 including a 10-5 edge in offensive rebounds.
BU shot 59.1 percent from the floor in the second half including a 5-for-10 showing beyond the 3-point line while UMaine shot just 34.6 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from long range over the final 20 minutes.
UMaine will open America East play at Bryant (R.I.) on JKanone
