It was an up-and-down season for the University of Maine men’s basketball team. The Black Bears showed off their talent at certain times during the year, defeating NCAA tournament teams Florida Gulf Coast University — who knocked off Georgetown University in the round of 64 and advanced to the Sweet 16 — and eventual America East champion University of Albany en route to an 11-19 overall record.
However, the Black Bears struggled when they were playing away from the friendly confines of the Alfond Arena and The Pit, finishing 3-14 on the road.
“Anytime you go into a season, your goal is to compete and win a conference championship,” head coach Ted Woodward said. “We knew we had a young basketball team and liked a lot of the guys we had. We certainly showed, throughout the course of the year, that we were able to have some very good moments against some very good teams.”
Unfortunately, the Black Bears’ season ended in heartbreak, losing to the University of Albany, 60-59. The Black Bears split the season series with the America East Champs and led by as many as 11 in the second half of the first round contest. But the Black Bears came up just short, as it was their fifth loss of the season that was decided by three points or fewer. This is the eighth consecutive year that UMaine fell in the first round of the America East tournament.
“We were disappointed to not get past the first round here in Albany, but I thought we played a pretty good basketball game,” Woodward said. “We need to cut our turnovers down, but we went and battled extremely hard against Albany, who is in the NCAA tournament right now and just came up a basket short.”
Woodward’s squad did a great job in the paint this season, blocking 123 shots — the most in the conference — and shooting 43 percent from mid-range while holding opponents to 41 percent. UMaine finished third in the conference in scoring, with 66.3 points per game.
“We were a transition basketball team, and we were at our best when we were able to get stops and get out and run,” Woodward said.
The Black Bears struggled on the perimeter. UMaine only shot 29 percent from the 3-point arc — eighth in the conference — and allowed opponents to shoot 35 percent. The 150-point difference from behind the arc contributed to the Black Bears finishing eighth in the conference in scoring, allowing 69.7 points per game.
“We outscored a lot of people from the paint,” Woodward said. “We needed to get a little more balance from the arc, and that’s something we are working on right now with our guys and will improve through recruiting. At the same time, we’ve got to do a little bit better at slowing people down on the outside.”
Star guard Justin Edwards was the catalyst for UMaine and would be rewarded for his efforts this season garnering an America East second team nod along with forward Alasdair Fraser. Edwards, a sophomore from Ontario, was the first Black Bear in 23 years to lead the conference in scoring, with 16.7 points per game, and steals, with 1.9 per game. Edwards also chipped in 3.7 assists per game and 5.1 rebounds to round out his stellar season. His unbelievable leaping ability provided the Black Bears countless highlights throughout the season.
Fraser, the junior from Scotland, earned the award, scoring 13.7 points per game and finished fourth in the conference in rebounding with 8.2 per game. Facing double teams, night in and night out, Fraser shot 49.1 percent from the field and blocked 1.5 shots per game to contribute Maine’s fourth best two-point defense.
Senior center Mike Allison earned All-Defensive team honors for the second straight year, averaging 1.6 blocks per game and 7.4 rebounds.
The season highlight for the Black Bears came on Beach Night Money Madness. The Black Bears performed in front of the largest crowd of the season — 2,265 fans — and fed off the crowd’s energy for a 71-68 victory over the University of Vermont Catamounts (21-12, 11-5). The key for the event was promotion. Flyers were placed all around campus, advertising free cash giveaways and halftime contests. Coach Woodward hopes to build off of the night to draw larger crowds in the future. UMaine ranked seventh in the league in attendance averaging 1,209 fans per game.
“The University has been very supportive,” Woodward said. “This year, it was the first step for football really engaging students and making sure they had a lot of different events going on. They certainly did a great job for that basketball game, and I know there are lots of plans in place to continue those types of promotional events.”
With only two seniors graduating — Allison and forward Jon McAllian — the Black Bears have potential for a bright future. Throughout the season, sophomore forward Zarko Valijarevic from Serbia really showed positive progression. Valijarevic provided the Black Bears with much needed shooting on the outside and gave them the ability to stretch the floor, averaging 8.4 points per game and shooting 33 percent from three. He developed the confidence to take the last shot and led the team in free throw shooting at 76 percent.
Woodward claims the Black Bears have already begun putting in the work this offseason. With some improved chemistry, consistent defense and better shooting, this team could contend for a conference championship.
“We’ve got a good, young core, and the next couple years we have a chance to do some really exciting things,” Woodward said.