bainsey

Due to a prior commitment, I only saw the second half, but I saw some reasons to be excited, and some reasons for concern.

I came in at the right time. In the first half, Maine was down by 9 midway through, before finding a groove to a tune of 25-8 to finish up 8 at the intermission. Nice to know this team can find a niche and explode.

It flowed into the second half, thanks to 13 STRAIGHT POINTS from Junior Bernal (man, this kid is quick and talented). The next thing you know, Maine is up 23, and you think this is going to be one of these runaway exhibition games. It just flowed and flowed...

...and then it ebbed and ebbed. UQAM inched their way back with good post play, and Maine just went ice cold on the other end. The next thing you know, it's 66-62 with 1:49 left. Thankfully, Maine hit six staight free throws (Mark Socoby 4, Chris Bruff 2), followed by a Kevin Reed three with :17 left to ice it.

What I liked: The depth...Eleven Black Bears got into the game, four made double figures (Bernal 17, Olli Ahvenniemi 10), and two of those came off the bench (Bruff 15, Socoby 10). Even the rebounds were spread out, as three players had five boards, one with four, and four with three.

What concerns me: It's only one game, but it's hard not to notice the hot-and-cold streaks. Down 9 to up 23 to up 4? Yikes. At least the team held on. That'll be crucial once the snow flies.

Could've been better if: Kevin Reed and Jon Sheets weren't ice cold. Law of averages, but today wasn't their day shooting: Reed 2-for-10, Sheets 2-for-9. Team 2-for-16 beyond the arc. Still shot 43% overall.

Locals will like: The Black Bears had four players from Maine high schools (Socoby, Bernal, Jordan Cook, Sean Costigan) on the floor at the same time. I can't remember the last time I saw that.

A lot of early-season rust still looms, but there's still reason for Orono optimism.

mainejeff

From what I've read on the Maine website re-cap.....sounds like Bernal and Socoby are gonna make a major impact in this league. While Reed was rusty and Bofia was missing the mark, those 2 picked up a lot of slack. Sounded like Socoby really performed well in crunch time (tied the game at 21 with a steal and dunk, 4-4 from the line in the final 1:22 of the game, hit a 3-pointer to ice the game with 17 seconds left).

Can't wait for the regular season to start!

UAlbany09

Why are most of the exhibition games being played against teams from Canada?

WWII

They have to be dII or II or foreign, otherwise they are closed scrimmages.