The Black Bears Baseball team played host in an interstate matchup against Thomas College at the Mahaney Diamond on Tuesday afternoon. Thomas College, which sits a division lower than Maine, just didn’t have anything for Maine as the Black Bears jumped to an 8-1 lead by the end of the 4th inning and never looked back, collecting the win 11-3.

Thomas College found themselves ahead 1-0 early after the first inning, thanks to a Maine throwing error that allowed a run to score. Maine would respond in the bottom of the second with the bases loaded. Second-year shortstop Jeremy Pena hit a deep shot that would allow him to tally up a bases-clearing triple, as first-year third baseman Cody Pasic, second-year second baseman Caleb Kerbs and first-year first baseman Hernen Sardinas all came across home plate to score three runs for the Black Bears. A wild throw into third base trying to pick off Pena would allow Pena to scurry home, giving Maine a 4-1 lead after two innings.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Maine would chalk up four more runs to extend their lead, when fourth-year left fielder Colin Ridley would blast a grand slam over the right field wall on the first pitch he saw, scoring Pasic, Kerbs and Pena to give Maine an 8-1 lead that they would not give up.

Maine wasn’t done just yet, as they would tack on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on two bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch. The two walks would give RBIs respectively to fourth-year center fielder Lou Della Fera and Sardinas and the wild pitch scored third-year catcher Jonathan Bennett from third base. The Black Bears would hold the lead 11-1 after six innings.

Thomas would show signs of life, getting back two runs in the top of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly to right field and a runner taking home from third on a wild pitch. Maine pitching would settle in and help give the Black Bears the 11-3 victory and improve Maine’s overall record to 14-19 on the season.

Maine’s first-year starting pitcher Trevor DeLaite was able to earn his first win of his young career, putting his record to 1-2 as he went 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run, four hits, one walk and striking out three. Third-year pitcher Zach Winn came in to relieve for DeLaite and looked sharp in 2.0 innings of work, surrendering just one hit and striking out two Thomas batters. First-year pitcher Ryan Worthington also pitched 2.0 innings, giving up one hit, one walk, two earned runs and striking out two. First-year pitcher Matthew Pushard came in to close for the Black Bears and retired three of the four batters he faced, walking one.

“It was a good win,” Head Coach Nick Derba stated after the victory. “I loved our defense and our pitching, we have the the potential to be very explosive offensively, and we showed that potential today.”

The Black Bears are in action this weekend on the road against Binghamton and will return to the friendly confines of the Mahaney Diamond Tuesday, April 25 when they will meet the University of Maine Presque Isle.

With the start of the NBA playoffs last week, many fans had questions they were eager to see answered. Will Cleveland figure out how to get back to its winning ways? Will anyone in the west beat the Golden State Warriors? Finally, for most of us in New England, will the Celtics prove worthy of their No. 1 seed?

All those questions have started to be answered for the most part after the first week of playoff action in the books.
Cleveland has taken a 3-0 series lead after history was made in their 25-point comeback in game 3 to set them up for a chance to sweep on Sunday afternoon in Indiana.

Golden State has found its touch against Portland and looks to complete the series sweep on Monday night. But, what we have seen out of the Spurs has been nothing short of impressive. The Grizzlies are showing playoff experience and life after a dramatic game four that saw Marc Gasol hit the game winning shot with .7 seconds remaining, to tie the series up 2-2. Despite winning both games at home to tie up the series, Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale is still taking suggestions on how to guard Spurs’ superstar forward in Kawiah Lennard.

The Celtics are heading to a pivotal game four on Sunday in Chicago down 2-1 after an emotional roller coaster of a week with the death of Isaiah Thomas’ younger sister in a fatal car accident. The crash took her life at age 22.
First though, let’s start with the Cleveland series, which has shown just how resilient the Cavaliers are when it’s playoff time. Not only did they battle back and make history in game three, coming back down 25 points at halftime, but the prior two games came down to the wire. Game one ended 108-107 on a tough last shot taken by C.J. Miles, which left Paul George asking why he didn’t get the last shot. Honestly, most of us had been asking why George (“PG-13”) didn’t get the last shot.

Game two saw an emotional Lance Stevens told to calm down by head coach Nate McMillan, with his actions even leading team leader in Paul George to comment publicly again on his teammates, after a tough 117-111 loss, during the postgame press conference.

Game three was a different story. It had seemed that the Pacers had sorted out their woes, jumping out to a 25-point lead heading into the half. However, no lead is safe with LeBron James and company. The 25-point lead was diminished on an amazing second-half effort by LeBron and the bench as they fought back on the road like champions to take steal the 119-114 victory.

Cleveland and Indiana will face off in game four on Sunday with LeBron and the squad looking to sweep the Pacers and cast away all those questions of whether they were going to be good enough entering the playoffs.

The Celtics had many questions to answer entering the playoffs, as well. Are they a worthy one seed? Will Brad Stevens be able to get out of the first round against a star studded Bulls team? Will Isaiah Thomas overcome the adversity?

Following his sister’s passing, the emotional Isaiah Thomas was seen on the bench in tears, being consoled by teammate Avery Bradley prior to game one. Many wondered how Thomas would respond and he responded well, scoring a game-high 33 points in the 106-102 loss.

Game two was all Chicago, as the Celtics looked like they had lost their identity. Oll advised three-pointers and Marcus Smart seen flipping the bird were just a few of the incidents marring the game. It was overall a bad showing in the TD Banknorth Garden for the Celtics—and as a fan, it all seemed as though the Celtics season was coming down crashing to a halt.

Rondo, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler had the Celtics number in game two. Rondo looked like he was in 2008 form, dishing out 14 assists and adding 11 points. Wade also found the fountain of youth scoring 22, 16 of those in the second half as the Bulls would take a 2-0 series lead in a 111-97 win.

The Celtics bounced back in game three and all that happened in the first two games were forgotten. They looked motivated and ready, they played like a team that deserved the 1 seed. The Celtics won 104-87, but are still in trouble down 2-1 heading into sunday’s pivotal game four—one that is considered a must win for Boston.

The UMaine men’s basketball 2016-2017 season ended in Burlington, Vt. at the hands of the Catamounts in an 86-41 blowout. The men’s program had one of its toughest seasons in recent memory, due to preseason transfers, four season-ending injuries and youth which all factored into a disappointing 7-25 record.

Even with the challenges the program faced towards the end of the season, the team was able to find bright patches, including beating UMass Lowell at home on a Wes Myers game-winning jumper, an impressive finale in a game where he scored 31 points. On Feb. 25, they also fought out a 72-71 victory at Binghamton University, in the last regular season game of the season.

Coach Bob Walsh finished his third season in what many viewed to be his toughest season yet. “Challenging,” Walsh said. “It was a challenging season, because we suffered devastating personal losses with the 4 season-ending injuries.”

For some coaches the four season-ending injuries would be enough to throw in the towel, but many Maine fans can rest easy knowing that’s Walsh’s mentality. “Challenging is fun, and it made us better as a program, despite not getting the results we wanted,” Walsh said.

Coach Walsh has accepted the challenge and is determined to bring a winning culture back to the Maine basketball program. For his strategy to work, players must buy into the system and with such a tough season, it is up to Coach Walsh to keep the team motivated enough to make the sacrifice. “The only way to motivate is to be honest with them and develop trust,” Walsh said. “Once the players trust you, they will start to buy into what you are doing every day. You show them you have their best interests in mind and you can help make them better and therefore you can motivate them.”

Moving forward in the offseason, the Black Bears basketball team still has one hope, “Our expectations are to continue to get better and to have a chance to win the league,“ Coach Walsh said.

With teams like Vermont, Albany and Stony Brook, it proves to be a tough challenge. But it’s one that Coach Walsh believes can be accomplished. “Our ultimate goal is to win the America East,” he stated. It’s not a tin hat ideology from Coach Walsh, either. Looking at the young core, this team has it’s clearly built for the future. This strong group of underclassmen is led by a tenacious second-year point guard in Ryan Bernstein, who was introduced to first-year standouts this season in forward Andrew Fleming and center Vincent Eze this season. Fleming and Eze showed promise in their first seasons with the Black Bears. Fleming finished second on the team in Field Goals Made (112) and Eze finished fourth (69). The two of them are poised to be a dynamic duo for years to come for the Black Bears front court.

Other players looking to propel the Black Bears to a brighter future include third-year forward Austin Howard. Howard finished the season leading the team in 3-point field goals made, with 38. Along with Howard, third-year guard Wes Myers finished a close second with 34 3-pointers made. It’s players like these who clearly help give this program life and it’s players like this that will help bring back a winning culture to UMaine basketball.

The University of Maine is expanding coverage for baseball and softball to ESPN3. The expansion comes after the America East Conference partnered up with ESPN to broadcast all of the conference’s athletic events on an ESPN3 platform. This year is the first year of the contract. The primary focus of the contract is on basketball, with all other sports to come as time goes on.

Over the course of the past fall and winter, UMaine Athletics produced over 25 ESPN3 broadcasts for the University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. Coverage of the games has allowed more fans to watch their Black Bears play more easily than ever before and has even opened up chances for students with an interest in the production and broadcasting side of the sports world.

The plan is to  produce two baseball and two softball series this coming spring. Baseball will be covered by ESPN3 on April 8-9 — against the University of Hartford — and the next series will be May 13-14 against UMass Lowell.

Softball dates include April 15-16 facing Stony Brook and May 5-6 against the University of Albany. With softball coming off an America East championship last year — and baseball still building around young stars like Danny Casals — it provides a fun and great opportunity for students who are looking to learn or get involved in broadcasting and production.

Sam Hallett is the Director of Digital Content for UMaine athletics — and gave some insight on the chances the expansion brings.

“Right now we currently use students with work study and volunteers to cover the broadcasts, but I hope to be able to create a course to offer students based around these live broadcasts.” He said, “ESPN is a big name in the sports world and I see this becoming some great experience for students who want to be involved in the sports world.”

Around campus not much is offered for students who look to gain experience in broadcasting beyond the campus radio station, 91.9FM WMEB. The Sports Department offers a chance for broadcasting experience and on-air experience with weekly radio shows Tuesday and Thursday, from 2-4 p.m. Hallett is looking to change that culture on campus, moving forward by giving students a second option where they can gain even more experience in not just broadcasting, but production, stat keeping and other aspects that go into a professional broadcast.

Each broadcast will use the same equipment and follow the same formatting that you see when you watch nationally televised games on ESPN.

“Having those tools at your disposal are [sic] so valuable in this industry,” Hallett said. “My overall goal is to have an entirely student run broadcast to show off the talent we have and can teach right here at the University of Maine.”

With no classes that offer a direct window into the world of sports broadcasting, Sam is opening a door for a many students who have always wanted to be involved. “We are always looking for extra help, so I would encourage anyone who is interested in broadcasting sports to swing by or feel free just to stop by and take a look at what we do.”

Students who are looking to be involved can reach out to Sam via email at samuel.hallett@maine.edu or find him in his office at the Memorial Gym, which is attached to the Field House on campus. For students looking to be involved in radio broadcasts, please contact the sports department at WMEB at wmebsports.maine@gmail.com or swing by to the basement of the Memorial Union where the station is located.

The Maine Black Bears men’s basketball team traveled to New York on Saturday to take on the Binghamton Bearcats at 2 p.m. in the final game of the regular season. Maine played with just four players off the bench after a tough week that saw five players suspended due to an altercation in the locker room. Despite the controversy, the Black Bears overcame the adversity in a 72-71 victory. The victory is Maine’s first on the road in conference play this season.

The Black Bears came out of the gates strong, starting off the game on a 7-2 run while the Bearcats only managed to shoot 1-of-7 while Maine held an 11-6 lead heading into the first time out, with 16 minutes remaining in the half. First-year forward Andrew Fleming finished with 17 points and six assists leading the way for Maine in scoring who was without top scorer Wes Myers due to suspension.

The Bearcats would find their scoring touch going on a 14-2 run that saw them tie the game and eventually take the lead 22-19 on a deep three from second-year guard Joe Schurman, who finished the game with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Following the run, Maine Head Coach Bob Walsh would call a timeout and right out of the Maine timeout Binghamton extended the run to 16-2 before Maine would settle things down again. Third-year forward Austin Howard was a part of getting Maine back on track scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first half, making his money on mid-range jumpers. Both teams played tough defense and didn’t shoot the ball well from behind the arc. Maine finished at 25 percent and Binghamton finished at 20 percent in the first half, but the Black Bears were able to head into the half down just one point with the score 32-31.

The story in the second half was shooting the ball at a high percentage, which was sparked by second-year guard Dennis Ashley, who scored no points in three minutes of playing time in the first half but finished the second half with 17 minutes and 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 3-of-4 from three-point land.

Third-year forward Willie Rodriguez scored 18 points for the Bearcats in the second half after just eight in the first. Rodriguez continued to attack the paint, going at the big man Fleming and finishing an and-one play with just under 16 minutes to go in the game to put the Bearcats up 41-39. Maine’s second-year guard Ryan Bernstein, who had a great second half, would answer with a funky three that bounced off the back of the rim high and dropped through the bottom of the net.

Following Bernstein’s three, Binghamton would go on a 10-0 run and go up by nine points. Maine would claw back to get within two points, but Rodriguez would help the Bearcats battle back and gain a 10 point lead with 8:02 left in regulation. Thanks to some big threes from by Bernstein and Ashley, Maine was able to fight its way back into the game. They closed the gap thanks to a 9-0 run forcing a Bearcats timeout with 4:28 left and the score knotted up at 64 apiece. With a minute left and Maine down 67-66 it was Austin Howard who knocked down a tough midrange jumper to give Maine the 68-67 lead that they held onto through the final buzzer.

The Black Bears finish the regular season 7-24 overall and 3-13 in conference play, heading into the America East Playoffs that begin March 1. Maine will travel to the University of Vermont to take on the top-seeded Vermont Catamounts, who have yet to suffer a loss in conference play.

Fleming and company fuel Maine past Hartford

The University of Hartford Hawks and leading scorer in America East, Jalen Ross, trekked up to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Monday night to take on the Black Bears. Fueled by first-year forward Andrew Fleming and company, Maine snapped a seven game losing streak, beating Hartford 52-41. Both teams struggled to shoot the ball but Maine found a way to win with tough defense and great transition offense down the stretch.
The first half started off slow, with both teams unable to break double digits before the 10 minute mark. Hartford’s zone was keeping Maine honest while on the other end, Hartford’s missed shots and stingy defense by the Black Bears helped keep the Hawks from being able to find an offensive rhythm.

The Black Bears’ slow start on offense may have been attributable to a scary moment early in the half; second-year guard Ryan Bernstein was diving for a loose ball and found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Hartford defender diving for the ball landed on Bernstein’s head sandwiching his head between the chest of the defender and hardwood splitting him open just above his eye. He would not return in the half.

Third-year guard Wes Myers, whose last outing saw him score 33 points, struggled to find his touch Monday shooting 1-for-7 from the field and not scoring until 4:10 remaining in the half on a reverse lay up. Fleming finished the half with seven points, on 3-of-6 shooting thanks to strong finishing around the rim and third-year guard Austin Howard also netted seven points on 3-for-6 shooting.

The second half started with Maine’s Points Per Game leader Wes Myers weaving his way between three defenders for a hard fought two points to set the tone early. Myers would finish 2-12 from the field with five points.

Bernstein would return in the second half and give a needed spark to a Maine team ready to challenge the Hawks 2-3 Zone. Just under 15 minutes left with Maine on a 5-2 run, Bernstein would collect an air ball by Hartford and quickly make his way up court untouched for a beautiful coast to coast finger roll finish at the rim to extend the run 7-2 and force a Hartford timeout. However, out of the Hartford timeout it was all Maine. Third-year guard Jaquan Mckennon would come off the bench and record three assists in a row; one coming off a steal that saw Mckennon put a spin move on his defender to get to the rim and dish a crisp behind the back pass to Danny Evans who would extend the run to 12-2.

Mckennon wasn’t done yet, collecting his fourth assist of the half on a beautiful half court alley-oop pass to Fleming who flushed it down over his defender with authority. Maine would not look back after taking the 10-point lead and held Hartford’s Jalen Ross in check. Ross was averaging 20.2 points per game entering the game and Maine was able to hold the explosive scorer to 2-of-15 shooting, with just five free throws for a total of 10 points; Jack Hobbs also had 10 for the Hawks in the loss.

Fleming would lead the way for the Black Bears with 11 points and eight rebounds, Austin Howard finished with nine points and six rebounds, first-year center Vincent Eze and Ryan Bernstein each finished with seven points a piece respectively.

The Black Bears will travel to Lowell Thursday, Feb. 9 to take on the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks at 7 p.m. The last meeting between the two was in Bangor on Jan. 11, Maine won that contest on a Wes Myers game winning shot 73-71.

Maine suffers tough loss at UMass-Lowell

The University of Maine Black Bears Men’s basketball team traveled to Lowell, Mass. to take on the UMass-Lowell River Hawks to begin a three-game road stand. In their last meeting, Maine was able to get a buzzer-beater victory, but this time around Lowell was hitting on all cylinders and collected its fifth conference win in blowout fashion, 100-68 over the Black Bears on Thursday night.

UMass Lowell was led by second-year guard Ryan Jones who scored 25 points. Jones was closely followed by third-year guard Matt Harris with 23 points in the victory. For Maine, Myers led all scorers on Maine with 11 points two assists and three rebounds. Howard also contributed 10 points and tallied an assist and rebound on the night.

The Black Bears looked to ride the momentum from Monday night’s win vs Hartford, but found a tough matchup in the River Hawks. Both teams started slow scoring the first bucket at the 17:09 mark which would then be followed by a UMass-Lowell 22-7 run that lasted until the 9:31 mark before Ryan Bernstein would score on a fast break lay up, and get fouled for a three point play. Bernstein would make his lone free throw to get Maine into double digits. Bernstein finished with five points, three assists and three boards.

Maine fought back as they always do and a once 15-point lead was cut down to just four points after a Wes Myers three points . The River Hawks would respond fast off a Tyler Livingston three-pointer just 19 seconds later and would regain control of the game. Maine would enter the half down 41-28. The Black Bears shot 10-of-28 from the field in the first (35.7 percent) and 4-for-11 from the beyond the arc. The River Hawks were led by strong three point shooting, hitting the 50 percent (4-for-8) mark heading into the break and 18-of-37 from the field (48.6 percent).

The second half was much of the same story for the Black Bears who had trouble stopping a barrage of threes piled on by UMass-Lowell. The River Hawks opened up the half with four straight three-pointers that extended their lead to 23 points. A 19-4 run by the River Hawks would last until 15:45 reaming when Eze would get into the paint and finish strong at the rim for two points to stop the bleeding for the Black Bears. UMass-Lowell wouldn’t look back after building a 20-point lead that would stick till the final buzzer, Maine trailed by double-digits the entire half. The Black Bears could only manage 37.7 percent on the game and from behind the arc were a dismal 7-for-21 for 33.3 percent whereas the River Hawks shot an impressive 55.4 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from three point land shooting 13-of-22 from three point territory and 36-for-65 from the floor en route to their 100-point outing.

With the loss, the Black Bears now find themselves at 2-10 in conference play and 6-21 overall. Things will not be getting easier for them on the road trip as the team will travel to take on the University of Stony Brook Seawolves on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Seawolves are sitting pretty atop of the conference at 9-2 only behind unbeaten Vermont and are riding a three-game win streak into Sunday’s action.