The University of Maine men’s basketball team put together a statement win on Wednesday night, beating the South Florida Bulls 70-59 to cap off a successful road trip to the Sunshine State.
South Florida was an eight-point favorite, but never had a lead in the game. They were 2-1 this year and had been averaging 77.6 points per game.
The Black Bears improved to 4-3 with the victory, after going 2-1 in the First Coast Classic in Jacksonville this past weekend. They beat Northwestern State (Louisiana) and Presbyterian College (South Carolina) last Thursday and Friday, by an average margin of 13.5 points.
UMaine came out of the gate with gusto on Wednesday night, stretching out a 12-4 lead through the first five minutes of the game versus the Bulls. Up 31-29 coming out of halftime, the Black Bears went on another big run, outscoring South Florida 18-7 through the first six minutes of the second half.
Senior forward Peter Filipovity from Kaposvar, Hungary, came up huge for UMaine in the paint during these stretches, putting up a season-high 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting against the Bulls. He also logged 12 rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Sophomore point guard Jaden Clayton and fifth-year forward JaShonte Wright-McLeish were UMaine’s other two double-digit scorers, including a season-high 12 points for Clayton and four 3-pointers for Wright-McLeish (16 points, 4-for-5 from deep). The grad student has been virtually lights-out from three this season, shooting 17-for-30.
On defense, the Black Bears held South Florida to a brutal 33.9 field goal percentage, despite a -3 turnover differential, and being outrebounded 15 to 5 on the offensive glass. The Bulls had been shooting 44.3 percent from the field and averaged 72 points per game last year.
South Florida brought it within seven with 2:35 to go, but they were prevented from putting any meaningful possessions together in crunch time. The Bulls were led by senior guard Chris Youngblood (17 points on 6-for-14 shooting) and junior forward Kasean Pryor (12 points, 12 rebounds).
Moving forward, the Black Bears will finish out their road trip with a stop in New York City on Saturday to take on the 4-2 Columbia Lions at 1 p.m. The Black Bears’ next home game will be against Brown on Saturday, Dec. 3 at noon, at The Pit.
