Orono, Maine - Freshman Murphy Burnatowski scored a career-high 20 points and Gerald McLemore had 10 of his 13 in the second half in leading Maine to a 66-53 America East Conference victory over UAlbany on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Alfond Sports Arena.
Maine (19-9, AE 11-4) led 35-34 early in the second half, but then took control with a 16-3 run that ended at the second media timeout. McLemore and Burnatowski drilled back-to-back three-pointers to ignite the decisive run. McLemore, a sophomore guard who leads the nation in three-pointers made, added another jumper, before Junior Bernal made consecutive baskets, including a driving layup for a 51-37 lead.
The Black Bears, who have won five of their last six outings, held the visitors to 26.7-percent shooting on 8-of-30 attempts in the final period. Maine led by as much as 20 points with six minutes remaining. Bernal was the third player in double figures for the Black Bears, who lead the conference in scoring defense.
"They are rock solid and do a great job of controlling tempo," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "They are big, strong and physical. It all came down to our shooting in the second half and our inability to make shots."
In the opening period, UAlbany (7-23, AE 2-13) leaped to an 18-8 advantage. Will Harris and Logan Aronhalt made a pair of three-point field goals. Blake Metcalf's left baseline jumper gave his team its biggest lead. The Black Bears used a string of eight straight points to close the gap and tied the contest at 22 apiece on Troy Barnies' long-range shot from the top of the arc.
The Great Danes pushed out to a 27-22 margin with two fastbreak opportunities, including Aronhalt's basket in transition. But Maine came back with seven unanswered to take its first lead of the half. Mike Allison, a freshman center, scored with an offensive rebound, before Bernal connected in transition to end that run. UAlbany's Fran Urli later made a follow shot to draw his team even at 31-all, but Burnatowski hit a slam dunk after his steal and Allison made a baseline jumper to give their club a halftime edge.
"We couldn't make shots; there was a lid on the basket," stated Harris, a senior forward who was held to three points on 1-of-6 from the field. "When we are missing shots, we need to do a better job at the defensive end. We didn't do that tonight."
Aronhalt, a redshirt freshman, had 15 points for the Great Danes, who were coming off a last-second loss to conference-leader Stony Brook. Urli added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Paw Prints: Maine swept the season series after posting a 63-54 triumph in the first meeting on Jan. 21 at SEFCU Arena ... Logan Aronhalt scored in double figures for the sixth time this season ... UAlbany ends the regular season with a road game against Hartford on Sunday, Feb 28 at 4:00 p.m. ... Fans can listen to the game Fox Sports 980, WOFX-AM.
Maine 66, UAlbany 53 (2/24/10 at Alfond Arena, Orono, Maine)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ALBANY vs Maine
2/24/10 7:30 p.m. at Alfond Arena, Orono, Maine
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VISITORS: ALBANY 7-23, 2-13
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Harris, Will........ f 1-6 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 3 3 1 2 0 0 16
12 McRae, Scotty....... f 4-7 0-0 1-3 0 3 3 0 9 1 1 3 0 30
54 Gifford, Brett...... c 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 0 1 1 0 14
02 Aronhalt, Logan..... g 6-12 3-5 0-0 0 3 3 2 15 2 2 0 1 30
10 Black, Mike......... g 2-11 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 5 7 5 0 0 37
04 Urli, Fran.......... 4-8 0-0 3-3 5 1 6 2 11 0 1 0 0 21
05 Tartt, Derrek....... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 4
21 Metcalf, Blake...... 1-3 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 15
23 Ambrose, Tim........ 0-5 0-2 1-2 2 4 6 1 1 3 2 1 0 29
33 Allen, Billy........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
TEAM................ 6 8 14
Totals.............. 21-57 5-16 6-11 16 27 43 15 53 14 15 5 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 8-30 26.7% Game: 36.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 54.5% 3
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HOME TEAM: Maine 19-9, 11-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 McNally, Sean....... f 1-5 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 4 2 2 1 1 1 29
25 Burnatowski, Murphy. f 7-17 3-7 3-3 2 4 6 2 20 1 0 2 4 31
12 Bernal, Junior...... g 4-11 0-2 2-2 0 3 3 1 10 6 1 0 2 34
14 Mitchell, Terrance.. g 1-6 1-4 5-5 0 2 2 3 8 1 2 0 1 24
32 McLemore, Gerald.... g 5-12 3-8 0-0 0 3 3 2 13 1 1 0 0 28
11 Rogers, Andrew...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 7
15 Barnies, Troy....... 2-4 1-1 0-0 3 1 4 1 5 2 1 1 1 24
42 Peay, Malachi....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 12
44 Allison, Mike....... 3-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 1 6 0 0 1 0 11
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 24-62 8-22 10-10 10 23 33 14 66 16 6 5 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-35 37.1% 2nd Half: 11-27 40.7% Game: 38.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 6-6 100 % Game: 100 % 0
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Officials: Alan Libardoni, Dan Boomhour, David Gay
Technical fouls: ALBANY-None. Maine-None.
Attendance: 1506
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
ALBANY........................ 31 22 - 53
Maine......................... 35 31 - 66
ID - 854348
Points in the paint-ALBANY 18,MAINEMBB 20. Points off turnovers-ALBANY 5,MAINEMBB 14.
2nd chance points-ALBANY 9,MAINEMBB 13. Fast break points-ALBANY 2,MAINEMBB 4.
Bench points-ALBANY 17,MAINEMBB 13. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-ALBANY 2nd-00:46, MAINEMBB 2nd-06:03.
Largest lead-ALBANY by 10 1st-14:52, MAINEMBB by 20 2nd-09:10.
